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AN   OUTLINE 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


JAMES  H.  BROOKES. 


CHICAGO,  ILL.: 

Gospel  Publishing  Company, 
Arcade  Court. 


PEEFACB. 


This  little  book  had  its  origin  in  a  desire  to  be  helpful  to 
young  Christians,  and  to  others  who  wish  to  know  more  of 
God's  word.  It  is  believed  that  there  have  been  only  two 
methods  adopted  of  presenting  a  synopsis  of  that  word.  One 
Is  to  give  the  leading  thought  of  each  chapter,  section,  or 
paragraph,  which  in  fact  is  to  write  a  commentary  or  exposi- 
tion. While  this  is  unquestionably  the  best  plan  if  intelli- 
gently executed,  it  is  open  to  the  grave  objection  that  it 
requires  the  production  of  so  large  a  book,  it  is  practically 
placed  beyond  the  reach  of  many  poor  believers,  who  have  no 
time  for  extended  study. 

The  other  plan  seeks  to  embody  in  a  single  phrase  the  gen- 
eral meaning  of  each  book,  as  when  it  is  said  that  Genesis  sets 
forth  election,  Exodus  redemption,  Leviticus  priestly  service 
and  worship,  Numbers  our  wilderness  walk  and  warfare.  But 
while  these  words  may  be  suggestive  as  keynotes,  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  they  convey  little  instruction  as  to  the  real  character 
and  distinctive  teachings  of  the  various  books. 

An  attempt  is  here  made  to  avoid  the  two  extremes,  and  to 

exhibit  in  outline  in  brief  and  cheap  form  the  principal  design 

•  of  the  books,  viewed  especially  in  the  light  of  our  Lord's 

declaration,  "  Search  the  scriptures ;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye 


IV  PREFACE . 

have  eternal  life :  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me," 
(John  V.  39) ;  and  also  in  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  state- 
ment, "  Whatsoever  things  were  written  aforetime  were 
written  for  our  learning,  that  we  through  patience  and  com- 
fort of  the  scriptures  might  have  hope,"  (Rom.  xv.  4). 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  early  books  are  treated  quite 
briefly ;  but  when  the  prophets  were  reached,  it  became  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  the  sake  of  clearness  to  enter  a  little  more 
into  detail.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  same  amount  of 
space  given  to  the  prophets,  and  to  the  New  Testament 
writers,  was  not  assigned  to  the  .first  books  ;  and  no  one  can 
be  so  painfully  conscious  as  the  writer  of  the  utter  failure  of 
these  outlines  to  show  in  an  adequate  manner  the  wonderful 
testimonies  of  the  blessed  Bible.  But  such  as  they  are,  they 
are  sent  forth  with  the  prayer  that  they  may  be  used  in  some 
little  measure  of  loving  service  to  exalt  the  precious  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lprd. 


OONTENTSo 


BOOKS  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 


Genesis,       --..--     7 
Exodus,  -------     9 

Leviticus,    -    -    -    •    >    -   10 

Numbers, 11 

Deuteronomy,      -    -    -    -    12 

Joshua, 13 

Judges,  - 14 

Ruth, -15 

1  Samuel, 16 

2  Samuel, 17 

1  Kings,  -    .,    =    -    =    -    18 

2  Kings,  -------   19 

1  Chronicles,    -    -    -    -    =   20 

2  Chronicles,    -----    21 

Ezra, 22 

Nehemiah, 23 

Esther,    -    -    ^    .    -    -    -   23 

Job,    - 24 

Psalms,  -    -    .    *    *    -    -   26 
Proverbs,    -    »    =    -    .    -   28 


Ecclesiastes, 29 

Solomon's  Song,  -    -    -    -   31 

Isaiah, 34 

Jeremiah,    ------   36 

Lamentations,      -    -    -    -    38 

Ezekiel, 40 

Daniel,    -------   42 

Hosea,     -------44 

Joel,   --------   47 

Amos,     -------49 

Obadiah, -   52 

Jonah, 53 

Micah,     -------57 

Nahum,  -------   5S 

Habakkuk,  -    -    -    =    -    -   60 
Zephaniah,      -----    62 

Haggai,  -------    04 

Zechariah,  ------   66 

Malachi.  -------   70 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


BOOKS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT, 


Matthew,     .-----   72 

Mark, 78 

Luke, 82 

John, 87 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,    -    -   93 
Romans, 99 

1  Corinthians,       -    -    -    - 103 

2  Corinthians,      -    -    -    - 108 

Galatians, 113 

Ephesians,  -----    -117 

Philippians,     ----- 121 

Colossians, 126 

1  and  2  Thessalonians,      - 130 


1  and  2  Timothy,  =  =  -  137 
Titus,  .---  =  =  -142 
Philemon,  ----  =  - 144 
Hebrews,  -  -  =  -  -  -146 
James, 151 

1  Peter, -    - 156 

2  Peter,  -----  =  - 158 
IJohn,    --....    -160 

2  John,    -----    =    -163 

3  John. 164 

Jude, 166 

Revelation,      ...    -    - 168 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


GENESIS. 


fHEEE  is  a  sweet  simplicity  in  the  narratives 
of  this  first  book  that  is  very  attractive  to 
little  children,  and  there  is  a  depth  in  them  that 
lies  beyond  the  reach  of  the  profoundest  minds.  It 
forms  the  preface  of  the  entire  Bible,  for  it  contains 
the  germ  of  all  subsequent  revelations,  until  we 
reach  the  Apocalypse,  which  is  the  equally  strik- 
ing conclusion  of  the  inspired  Scriptures.  Hence 
there  is  a  r(imarkable  correspondence  between  the 
two  books ;  the  paradise  of  God,  the  tree  of  life, 
the  river,  the  crown  of  sovereignty  upon  man's 
brow  seen  m  the  former,  reappearing  in  the  latter; 
and  the  blessings  lost  in  the  first  Adam  restored  in 
the  last  Adam  in  the  very  order  in  which  they  dis- 
appeared. Thus  the  Holy  Ghost  at  once  exhibits 
the  perfect  unity  of  His  word,  and  teaches  us  not 
only  to  "  search  the  scriptures,"  but  to  search 
them  until  Christ  is  revealed  to  the  heart  in  all  the 
glory  of  His  divine  person,  and  in  all  the  value  of 
His  finished  work. 
His  opening  book  was  called  by  the  Jews  Bere- 

7 


8  BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

sMth,  *'  In  the  beginning ;"  but  by  the  translators 
of  the  Septuagint  Version  Genesis,  "  Generation  or 
Origination."  It  gives  us  the  only  true  history  of 
man  for  at  least  2,300  years,  and  it  centres  about 
seven  prominent  persons  in  pairs,  as  types  of  the 
whole  human  race.  First,  Adam  in  connection  with 
Eve,  or  human  nature  innocent,  fallen,  helpless, 
when  the  Lord  God  clothed  them  with  coats  of  skins 
which  He  made;  types  of  Christ  and  the  Church. 
Second,  Cain  in  connection  with  Abel,  or  the 
religion,  of  culture  opposed  to  redemption  through 
the  blood.  Third,  Enoch  in  connection  with  Noah, 
the  former  the  type  of  the  heavenly  people  trans- 
lated before  the  judgments  of  the  last  days;  the 
latter  the  type  of  the  earthly  saved  remnant  pass- 
ing through  the  judgments.  Fourth,  Abraham  in 
connection  with  Lot,  or  walking  by  faith,  and  walk- 
ing by  sight.  Fifth,  Ishmael  and  Isaac,  or  he  that 
was  born  of  the  flesh  persecuting  him  that  was 
born  of  the  Spirit;  Isaac  setting  forth  sonship. 
Sixth,  Esau  and  Jacob,  or  the  flesh  disowned  and 
hated,  while  he  that  was  elected  by  God's  sovereign 
grace  represents  service  and  discipline.  Seventh, 
Joseph,  rejected  by  his  brethren,  tells  of  suffering 
followed  by  glory  in  resurrection  power,  when  the 
**  Saviour  of  the  world,''  as  his  Egyptian  name  sig- 
nifies, received  his  Gentile  bride,  whose  name 
means  "  Beauty.'' 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  U 

EXODUS. 

Called  in  the  Hebrew  canon  from  its  initial  words 
reel  leh  shemoth,  **  these  are  the  names,"  but  in  the 
Greek  Uxit,  or  Departure.  It  embraces  a  period 
of  145  years,  and  treats  of  Eedemption  and  the 
Relationship  into  which  the  redeemed  are  brought 
to  God.  First,  the  call  of  Moses,  i.-vi.  Second, 
judgments  upon  Egypt,  types  of  judgments  falling 
upon  the  world  in  the  last  days,  predicted  in  the 
book  of  Eevelation,  vii.-xi.  Third,  Eedemption 
through  blood,  xii.-xv.  Fourth,  Wilderness  expe- 
rience, xvi.-xix.  Fifth,  under  law  and  the  results, 
xx.-xxiv.,  xxxii.,  xxxiii.  Sixth,  the  Tabernacle, 
(1)  the  ark  with  its  tables  of  stone,  or  righteousness 
is  the  foundation  of  Jehovah's  throne;  (2)  the 
Mercy-seat,  or  Christ  the  way  of  access  to  God; 
(3)  the  table  of  Shewbread,  or  Christ  our  Commun- 
ion with  God ;  (4)  the  golden  Candlestick,  or  Christ 
and  the  Church  the  light  of  the  world ;  (5)  the 
golden  altar  of  Incense,  or  Christ  in  His  interces- 
sion ;  (6)  the  Laver,  or  Christ  cleansing  us  from  the 
defilements  of  the  way ;  (7)  the  Brazen  Altar,  or 
Christ  enduring  the  wrath  of  God  in  our  stead, 
xxv.-xxvii.,  XXX.,  xxxi.,  xxxiv.-xl.  Seventh,  the 
garments  for  glory  and  for  beauty,  or  Christ  our 
high  i)riest,  xxviii.,  xxix.  While  only  two  chap- 
ters are  occupied  with   the  creation  of  the  world, 


10  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

fourteen  chapters  are  taken  up  with  the  tabernacle, 
showing  the  estimate  God  places  upon  the  work  of 
redemption,  and  that  Christ  is  the  centre  and  ob- 
ject of  the  Holy  Spirit's  revelation. 

LEYITICUS. 

Named  in  the  Hebrew  canon  vayilcra,  "  and  He 
called,"  but  in  the  Septuagint  Leviticus,  because  it 
treats  of  priestly  service  and  worship  in  connection 
with  the  tribe  of  Levi.  It  consists  almost  wholly 
of  words  spoken  by  Jehovah  from  the  tabernacle, 
and  comprises  the  transactions  of  not  more  than  a 
month.  First,  we  have  the  offerings,  (1)  the  burnt- 
offering,  Eph.  V.  2 ;  (2)  the  meat-offering,  John  iv. 
34 ;  (3)  the  peace-offering,  Eph.  ii.  14 ;  (4)  the  sin- 
offering,  showing  what  man  is,  2  Cor.  v.  21 ;  (5)  the 
trespass-offering,  showing  what  man  does,  1  Pet. 
ii.  24 ;  (6)  the  heave-offering,  Heb.  ix.  12 ;  (7)  the 
wave-offering,  Heb.  xii.  24,  i.-vii.  Second,  x>riestly 
consecration,  viii.-x.  Third,  separation  unto  the 
Lord,  xi.,  xii.  Fourth,  Sinners  cleansed  and  con- 
secrated, xiii.,  xiv.  Fifth,  ''  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am 
holy,"  xv.-xxii.  Sixth,  the  feasts,  (1)  the  Sabbath, 
Heb.  iv.  9 ;  (2)  the  Passover,  1  Cor.  v.  7 ;  (3)  the 
First  fruits,  1  Cor.  xv.  23;  (4)  Pentecost,  Acts  ii., 
but  evil  present.  Acts  v.  1-10  ;  (5)  the  Trumpets, 
Mark  xvi.  15,  16;  (6)  the  Atonement,  Heb.  ix.  22  ; 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  11 

(7)  the  Tabernacles,  Tit.  ii.  13,  xxiii.  Seventh^ 
looking  on  to  the  end,  xxiv.-xxvii.,  the  last  three 
chapters  having  been  spoken  in  Mount  Sinai. 

NUMBERS. 

So  called  in  the  Septuagint  and  Yulgate  from 
the  double  census  of  the  Israelites,  covering  a 
period  of  38  years.  It  is  the  wilderness  book,  re- 
countiDg  the  trials,  conflicts,  and  sins  of  the  way, 
and  it  admits  the  following  divisions.  First, 
preparation  for  the  journey,  every  man  numbered, 
knowing  his  pedigree,  having  his  place  and  work 
assigned,  responsible  to  maintain  holiness,  sep- 
arated unto  the  Lord,  and  presenting  offerings,  all 
seen  in  the  light  of  the  Sanctuary,  and  all  needing: 
the  blood  of  the  passover,  and  the  guidance  of  the 
cloud,  i.-ix.  Second,  on  the  march,  but  failure  at 
every  step,  first  of ''  the  mixed  multitude,"  then  of 
God's  people,  then  of  the  faith  of  Moses,  then  of 
Miriam  and  Aaron,  then  of  the  ten  spies,  then  of 
the  whole  congregation,  then  of  Korah,  Dathan, 
and  Abiram,  making  the  priesthood  of  Christ  in 
resurrection  fruitfulness  very  precious  to  God, 
x.-xviii.  Third,  provision  for  failure  along  the 
desert  road,  xix.  Fourth,  sin,  the  cross,  and  vic- 
tory, xx.-xxiv.  Fifth,  mingling  with  the  world 
and  its  consequences,  xxv.     Sixth,   re-numbered, 


12  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Simeon  losing  heavily,  and  directions  given  for  the 
possession  of  the  land,  xxvi.-xxxiv.  Seventh,  the 
wilderness  book  closes  with  the  cities  of  refuge  and 


DEUTERONOMY. 

A  book  to  which  high  honor  is  given  by  the  in- 
spired prophets,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  Epistles,  was  so  named  in  the 
Septuagint,  as  meaning  "the  second,''  that  is, 
repeated  "  Law."  It  is  not,  however,  a  mere  repe- 
tition of  the  law,  but  rather  an  application  of  the 
principles  of  the  law  to  Israel  in  view  of  their  past 
failure,  and  entrance  into  the  land,  answering 
somewhat  in  general  to  the  second  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament.  It  embraces  the  history  of  five 
weeks,  and  may  be  divided  as  follows :  First,  a 
rehearsal  of  God's  dealings  with  them  during  a 
journey  of  forty  years,  that  ought  to  have  been 
made  in  eleven  days,  i.-iv.  Second,  a  rehearsal  of 
the  law,  with  added  motives  and  earnest  appeals 
to  obedience,  v.-xi.  Third,  the  statutes  and  ordi- 
nances to  be  observed  in  the  land,  on  all  of  which 
may  be  written,  *'  Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  xii.-xxv. 
Fourth,  worship  enjoined  in  connection  with  the 
beautiful  service  of  offering  the  basket  of  first 
fruits,  xxvi.    Fifth,  the  blessings  and  curses  to  be 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  13 

pronounced  on  Gerizim  and  Ebal,  but  the  blessings 
significantly  omitted,  xxvii.  Sixth,  temporal  mer- 
cies and  judgments  predicted,  as  suited  to  an 
earthly  people,  with  the  promise  of  ultimate 
restoration,  xxviii.-xxx.  Seventh,  farewell  words, 
celebrating  the  righteousness  and  grace  of  Jeho- 
vah in  the  history  of  Israel,  from  the  flood  to  the 
second  coming  of  Christ,  xxxi.-xxxiv. 

JOSHUA, 

*'  The  Lord  is  salvation."  Here  begins  the  second 
division  of  the  inspired  writings,  comprising  twelve 
books,  and  closing  with  Esther.  The  correspond- 
ing book  in  the  Kew  Testament  is  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians.  The  Eed  Sea  shows  what  we  are  sep- 
arated from^  and  answers  to  Eom.  vi.,  vii. ;  the 
Jordan  shows  what  we  are  separated  unto^  and 
answers  to  Eph.  i.,  ii.,  in  the  heavenlies  now  in 
Christ  Jesus.  It  contains  the  history  of  about 
twenty-five  years,  and  gives  First,  Jehovah^s  com- 
mand and  promise,  i.  Second,  grace  abounding,  ii. 
Third,  the  Jordan  crossed  in  the  power  of  the  ark, 
the  reproach  of  Egypt  rolled  away,  death  to  the 
flesh,  the  jjassover,  and  feeding  upon  the  old  corn 
of  the  land,  before  conflict  began,  iii.-v.  Fourth, 
the  conquest  of  the  laud,  vi.-xii.  Fifth,  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  land,  xiii.-xxi.     Sixth,  separation 


14  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  two  tribes  and  a  half,  portending  evil,  xxii. 
Seventh,  Joshua's  parting  address,  xxiii.,  xxiv. 
Jordan,  according  to  Jerome,  means  "  stream  of 
judgment;"  according  to  Augustine,  "to  come 
down  ;"  but  in  either  case  it  implies  that  death  to 
self,  through  which  every  one  must  pass,  in  order 
to  enter  into  j)resent  rest.  The  people  could  not 
enter  the  land  until  Moses  was  dead.  It  is  not  the 
law,  but  Joshua  or  Jesus,  who  leads  through  judg- 
ment, as  we  are  linked  to  the  blood- sprinkled 
mercy-seat. 

JUDGES. 

This  book  gives  the  history  of  Israel's  apostacy 
for  about  300  years,  and  the  corresponding  scrip- 
ture in  the  New  Testament  is  the  second  epistle  to 
the  Ephesians,  Eev.  ii.  1-7  ;  the  seven  churches  in 
Asia  answering  in  general  to  the  seven  stages  of 
declension  described  in  Judges.  Things  went  from 
bad  to  worse  with  interventions  of  sovereign  grace 
resembling  modern  "revivals,"  that  in  themselves 
are  signs  of  weakness,  because  the  church  should 
always  be  revived.  There  were  seven  periods  of 
captivity,  extending  through  131  years  which  God 
does  not  count  in  His  chronology,  as  He  takes  note 
of  time  only  when  Israel  are  in  His  land,  and  seven 
prominent  Deliverers  raised  up  to  break  the  yoke 
of  oppression: 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  15 

Oppressors.  Deliverers. 

Mesopotamians,    "High,  ele-  Othniel,  "Lion  of  God." 

vated,  magnificent." 

Moabites,  "Water,  i.  e.,  pro-  Ehud,  "Joining  together,  or 

geny  of  the  father."  oneness." 

Philistines,  "To  roll  oneself,  Shamgar,  son  of  Anath,  "An- 

to  wallow,  i.  e.,  in  the  dust."  swer  s.  c,  to  prayer." 

Canaanites,  "  To  bring  down,  Deborah,  "A  bee,"  from  the 

humble,  subdue."  verb  "to  speak." 

Midianites,    "Strife,    Conten-  Gideon,  "  Cutter,  Feller." 

tion." 

Ammonites,  "From  the  peo-  Jepthah,  "He  will  open,"  i.e., 

pie,"  verb,  "  to  hide."  "  set  free." 

Philistines,  "  To  wallow,  s.  c,  Samson,  "Sunlike,  or  Splen- 

in  the  dust."  did  Sun." 

The  last  five  chapters  contain  an  appendix, 
showing  the  wretched  condition  of  Israel,  even 
while  Phinehas,  the  grandson  of  Aaron,  was  liv- 
ing, XX.  28. 

RUTH. 

Israel  having  proved  unfaithful,  the  book  of 
Ruth  follows  like  a  lovely  i)icture  presenting  the 
calling  of  the  Gentile  Church,  and  the  final  restora- 
tion of  God's  ancient  people  after  the  marriage 
supper  of  the  Lamb.  The  corresponding  scrip- 
tures are  Acts  xv.  14-17  ;  Eom.  xi.  25-32.  There 
are  seven  principal  characters  :  Elimelech,  "  My 
God  is  King  ;"  ISTaomi,  "  Pleasantness  ;"  Mahlon, 
"  Sickness,  Infirmity  ;"  Chilion,  "  Pining,  Wast- 
ing f   Orpah,  "  A  Fawn  ;"  Euth,  ''  Beauty,"  or  as 


16  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

some  say,  "  Satisfied ;''  Boaz,  "  In  bim  is  strength." 
The  book  sets  forth,  First,  Decision  for  Christ,  i. ; 
Second,  Meeting  with  Christ,  ii. ;  Third,  Eest  in 
Christ,  iii.  -,  Fourth,  Union  with  Christ,  iv.  Obed, 
born  of  Boaz  and  Eiith,  means  ^'  Serving,  or  wor- 
shipping," and  was  in  the  line  of  Christ's  human 
ancestry.  Matt.  i.  5. 

1   SAMUEL. 

After  the  call  in  type  of  the  Church,  we  have  in 
their  proper  order  the  six  books  of  the  kingdom ; 
not  seven,  the  divine  perfect  number,  but  six, 
the  imperfect  human  number  5  for  the  failure  of 
man  as  king  is  to  be  i:)roved,  following  his  failure 
as  priest.  Intimations  of  this  period  had  been 
previously  given,  (Deut.  xvii.  14-20),  but  in  the 
purpose  of  God  it  succeeds  the  unfaithfulness  of 
Israel  in  the  place  of  privilege  and  responsibility, 
leading  them  to  say,  "  Nay  5  but  we  will  have 
a  king  over  us  ;  that  we  also  may  be  like  all  the 
nations."  The  first  book  gives  us  man's  choice  of 
a  king,  type  of  the  antichrist,  and  it  admits  the 
following  divisions:  First,  the  birth  of  Samuel, 
meaning  *'Asked  for  of  God,"  the  prophetic  song 
of  his  mother ;  and  the  vileness  of  the  priesthood, 
1.,  ii.  Second,  the  ministry  of  the  child-prophet, 
and  the  utter  ruin  of  the  priestly  house,   iii.,  iv. 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  17 

Third,  the  ark  of  the  covenant  among  the  Philis- 
tines, and  the  vindication  of  its  holiness,  v.— vii. 
Fourth,  the  election  of  Saul,  meaning  "  asked  for," 
and  his  rejection,  viii:-xv.  Fifth,  the  divine  call 
of  David,  meaning  *'  Beloved,"  and  his  victory  by 
faith,  xvi.,  xvii.  Sixth,  the  persecutions  and  sor- 
rows ol  the  Lord's  anointed,  xviii.-xxx.  Seventh, 
the  wretched  death  of  Saul  and  of  his  sons,  even 
of  Jonathan,  whose  heart  was  true  to  David,  but 
who  adhered  outwardly  to  the  world,  xxxi. 

II   SAMUEL. 

This  book  centres  about  God's  King,  and  treats 
of  the  following  general  subjects  :  First,  his  reign 
in  Hebron,  meaning  "Association  or  fellowship," 
for  seven  years  and  six  months,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  his  throne  in  Jerusalem,  "  Foundation  of 
peace,"  when  he  was  37,  i.-v.  Second,  he  brings 
the  ark  to  his  capital,  learns  that  God  is  able  to 
take  care  of  His  own,  and  receives  the  promise  of 
Christ  as  his  successor,  vi.,  vii.  Third,  his  victo- 
ries over  all  enemies,  and  his  clemency  to  Mephi- 
bosheth,  "  out  of  his  mouth,  shame,"  of  Lodebar, 
"  without  pasture,  or  no  word,"  type  of  the  sinner, 
who  is  a  "  dead  dog,"  viii.-x.  Fourth,  God's  grace 
exhibited  in  the  forgiveness  of  his  great  sin,  and 
God's    righteousness    manifested  in   government, 


16 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 


which  shows,  "  whatsoever  a  mau  soweth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap,"  xi.-xxi.  Fifth,  an  ode  of 
triumph  commemorating  his  deliverance  out  of  the 
hands  of  all  his  enemies,  and  celebratiug  the  glory 
of  Christ,  xxii.  Sixth,  Christ  the  only  true  King, 
predicted  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  remembering  and 
rewarding  faithful  service  for  His  name,  xxiii. 
Seventh,  the  site  of  the  temple  selected  on  the 
threshing  floor  of  a  Gentile,  after  the  sin  of  pride 
and  ambition,  whereby  our  first  x^arents  fell,  had 
been  put  away  by  sacrifice,  xxiv. 

I   KINGS. 

This  book  sets  forth  typically  Christ  and  His 
heavenly  people.  Hence  the  temple  and  its  cham- 
bers are  to  be  viewed  here  as  the  "  Father's  house  " 
with  its  many  mansions.  No  silver,  atonement 
money,  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  sacred 
vessels,  although  David  pre^^ared  it  for  them, 
(1  Chron.  xxviii.  14-17) ;  but  all  is  gold  ;  neither  is 
there  any  brazen  altar  nor  vail  mentioned  5  but 
seven  times  the  king  says  in  his  j^rayer  of  dedica- 
tion, "  Hear  thou  m  heaven,  thy  dwelling  place." 
Historically  considered,  we  have  First,  Solomon, 
whose  name  means  "  Peaceable,"  exercising  judg- 
ment upon  his  enemies,  and  reigning  in  i)ower, 
i.-iv.     Second,  the  building  and  dedication  of  the 


BOOKS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  19 

temple,  v.-viii.  Third,  his  matchless  wisdom  and 
riches,  when  "  all  the  vessels  of  the  house  of  the 
forest  of  Lebanon  were  of  pure  gold ;  none  were  of 
silver :  it  was  nothing  accounted  of  in  the  days  of 
Solomon,"  ix.,  x.  Fourth,  his  sad  fall  by  the  influ- 
ence of  "  outlandish  women,"  (Neh.  xiii.  26),  types 
of  worldly  churches,  xi.  Fifth,  the  division  of  the 
kingdom  into  the  ten  tribes,  called  Israel,  and  the 
two  tribes,  called  Judah,  xii.  Sixth,  the  rapid 
spread  of  iniquity,  especially  in  Israel,  connected 
with  the  faithful  testimony  of  Elijah,  meaning  ''  My 
God  is  Jehovah,"  xiii.-xxi.  Seventh,  Judah  joins 
affinity  with  Isratjl,  leading  long  afterwards  to 
deplorable  results,  xxii. 

II   KINGS. 

First,  the  ministry  of  Elisha,  meaning  "  My  God 
is  salvation,"  as  an  illustrious  type  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  the  midst  of  abounding  evils,  i.-viii. 
Second,  the  ever-increasing  prevalence  of  unbelief, 
idolatry,  and  shameful  crimes,  in  Jehovah's  land^ 
ix.-xvi.  Third,  the  subjugation  and  removal  by 
Assyria  of  the  ten  tribes,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  years  before  the  overthrow  of  Judah,  xvii. 
Fourth,  the  miraculous  deliverance  of  Jerusalem, 
typical  of  the  deliverance  to  be  wrought  in  the  last 
days,  xviii.--xx.  Fifth,  the  son  of  Hezekiah,  illus- 
trating that  while  grace  is  not  inherited,  the  flesh 


20  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

is  transmitted,  hastens  the  doom  of  Jerusalem,  xxi. 
Sixth,  the  reign  of  Josiah  gave  "  a  little  reviving,'^ 
while  the  judgments  were  gathering,  but  he  had  to 
command  the  people  to  keep  the  passover,  and  to 
cause  them  in  their  stupid  indifference  to  enter  into 
covenant  with  God,  xxii.,  xxiii.  Seventh,  the  cap- 
ture of  the  city  of  David  by  Kebuchadnezzar,  the 
head  of  Gentile  power,  xxiv.,  xxv. 

I  CHRONICLES. 

This  book,  with  the  next,  is  placed  last  in  the 
Hebrew  Canon,  and  was  written  after  the  captivity, 
(lii.  16-24;  vi.  15).  Commencing  with  Adam,  it 
gives  the  connecting  links  in  the  history  of  the 
race,  with  special  reference  to  the  house  of  David, 
and  David's  greater  Son.  Christ  being  in  the  full 
view  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  sins  of  saints  are  not 
mentioned,  as  the  sins  of  Old  Testament  saints  are 
not  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  except 
where  they  bring  out  most  clearly  the  wonders  of 
pardoning  grace.  The  special  subject  is  David, 
and  we  have  First,  the  genealogy  of  the  tribes  to 
the  death  of  Saul,  i.-x.  Second,  David's  mighty 
men,  and  his  coronation  as  king  over  all  Israel, 
xi.,  xii.  Third,  David's  removal  of  the  ark,  the 
promise  of  Christ,  and  the  millennial  song,  xiii.-- 
xvii.    Fourth,  David's  wars  and  victories,  xviii.--xx. 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE,  21 

Fifth,  David's  selection  of  the  ground  for  the 
temple,  that  was  associated  with  grace  reigning 
through  righteousness,  sin  being  put  away  by  sac- 
rifice, when  he  was  afraid  to  go  to  the  tabernacle, 
xxi.  Sixth,  David's  preparation  for  building  the 
temple,  the  pattern  of  which,  and  the  ordering  of 
the  Levites  and  Singers,  were  revealed  to  him  by 
the  Spirit,  xxii.-xxvii.  Seventh,  David's  last  mes- 
sage and  thanksgiving,  leaving  Solomon  his  son 
*'  on  the  throne  of  .the  Lord,"  rxviii.,  xxix. 

II   CHRONICLES. 

This  book  confines  itself  to  the  house  of  David, 
viewed  rather  in  its  religious  than  its  political 
relations.  Typically  it  sets  forth  the  millennial 
reign  of  Christ  on  the  earth,  and  hence  we  read  of 
silver,  atonement  money,  in  connection  with  tbe 
temple,  and  also  of  the  altar  and  the  vail;  and 
seven  times  in  his  prayer  of  dedication  Solomon 
says,  "  Hear  thou  from  heaven."  Historically  we 
have,  First,  the  brilliant  reign  of  Solomon,  i.-ix. 
Second,  Rehoboam's  departure  from  the  Lord, 
x.-xii.  Third,  victory  crowning  the  arms  of  those 
who  looked  to  Jehovah  in  simple  faith,  xiii.-xvi. 
Fourth,  the  suggestive  lessons  of  Jehoshaphat's 
reign,  showing  the  results  of  alliance  with  the 
world,    and    God's    reclaiming    mercy,    xvii.-xx. 


2:^  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Fifth,  the  inevitable  consequences  of  affinity  with 
a  false  religion,  but  for  David's  sake  a  lamp  still 
shone  in  Jerusalem,  xxi.--xxiii.  Sixth,  blessing 
attending  kings  who  honored  the  Lord,  but  evil 
following  Ahaz  who  walked  in  the  ways  of  the 
kings  of  Israel,  xxiv.-xxviii.  Seventh,  temporary 
revival  under  Hezekiah  and  Josiah,  but  speedy 
relapse  until  the  captivity  under  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, xxix.  -xxxvi. 

EZRA. 

This  book  covers  a  x^eriod  of  about  eighty  years^ 
and  is  a  pledge  that  a  remnant  will  be  restored  to 
the  worship  of  Jehovah  in  His  land,  at  the  end  of 
the  i^resent  age.  First,  the  return  of  some  fifty 
thousand  of  the  people  of  Judah  by  the  decree  of 
Cyrus,  under  Joshua  the  high  x^riest,  and  Zerub- 
babel  the  i3rince  of  the  house  of  Judah,  the  build- 
ing of  the  altar,  and  the  laying  of  the  foundation 
of  the  temple,  i.--iii.  Second,  the  refusal  of  the 
remnant  to  have  fellowship  with  the  mixed  multi- 
tude, and  the  interruption  of  the  work,  iv.  Third, 
the  appearance  of  the  prophets,  Haggai  and  Zech- 
ariah,  and  the  completion  of  the  temple,  v.,  vi. 
Fourth,  about  sixty  years  later,  the  coming  of 
Ezra,  meaning  "  Help,"  and  a  small  colony,  by  a 
decree  of  the  king,  vii.,  viii.  Filth,  separation 
from  the  people  of  the  lands,  and  putting  away 
strange  wives,  ix.  x. 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  23 

NEHEMIAH. 

This  book  represents  in  tj'pe  the  restoration  of 
civil  government  to  the  Jews,  and  their  national 
supremacy,  in  the  last  days.  First,  the  commis- 
sion of  Nehemiah,  meaning  "  Consolation  of  the 
Lord,"  to  rebuild  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
names  of  his  helpers,  i.-iii.  Second,  hindrances 
to  the  work,  (1)  ridicule,  (2)  open  enmity,  (3)  leaders 
holding  back,  (4)  worldly  brethren,  (5)  offer  of  the 
world's  friendship,  (6)  charge  of  treasonable  de- 
signs, (7)  false  prophets,  iv.--vi.  Third,  the  people 
numbered,  and  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  type  of 
millennial  joy,  observed  as  it  had  not  been  for  a 
thousand  years,  vii.,  viii.  Fourth,  confession  and 
covenant,  ix.,  x.  Fifth,  gladness  in  the  holy  city, 
the  sabbath  kept,  and  separation  from  evil,  xi.--xiii. 

ESTHER. 

This  book  teaches  in  type  the  setting  aside  of 
the  professing  Gentile  bride,  and  the  elevation  of 
the  despised  Jew,  according  to  the  sure  word  of 
Eom.  xi.  19-29.  The  name  of  God  is  not  mentioned, 
to  show  His  watchful  care  over  His  ancient  people, 
although  in  their  present  unbelief  they  may  refuse 
to  recognize  His  hand.  First,  the  rejection  of  the 
Gentile  queen,  who  refused  to  exhibit  her  beauty 
to    the    people    and  the  princes,  i.     Second,  the 


24  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

choice  of  Hadassah,  meaning  "Myrtle,"  afterwards 
changed  to  Esther,  "A  star,"  a  x^oor  Jewess,  to  sit 
ui^on  the  throne  of  earth's  monarch,  ii.  Third,  the 
rage  of  Haman  of  the  cursed  seed  of  Amalek,  and 
the  unchangeable  decree  to  slay  all  the  Jews,  iii. 
Fourth,  the  wonder-working  providence  and  grace 
of  Jehovah  interposing  in  their  behalf,  iv.--viii. 
Fifth,  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  leaving  a  Jew  next 
in  authority  to  the  king,  who  "  laid  a  tribute  upon 
the  land,  and  upon  the  isles  of  the  sea,"  ix.,  x. 

JOB. 

That  such  a  man  really  lived  is  sufficiently 
proved  by  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
Ezek.  xiv.  14,  20;  James  v.  11.  It  is  probable  that 
he  was  born  long  before  the  days  of  Moses,  as 
he  ministered  in  the  priest's  office  for  his  family, 
and  makes  no  allusion  to  the  law  given  from  Sinai, 
and  attained  a  far  greater  age  than  any  who  are 
mentioned  after  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  His  name 
means  "  x^ersecuted,"  and  "  Human  Perfection 
Tested,'^  may  be  suggested  as  the  proper  title  of 
the  book.  First,  we  have  an  account  of  his  severe 
trials  and  bitter  complaint,  i.-iii.  Second,  the  de- 
bute with  his  three  friends,  who  charge  him  in 
1  hree  successive  assaults  with  hypocrisy  and  false- 
hood and  secret  sins,  as   the  real  cause  of   his 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE, 

troubles,  iv.-xiv. ;  xv.-xxi. ;  xxii.-xxvi.  Third, 
Job's  passionate  vindication  of  himself,  in  which 
the  personal  pronouns  "I'^  and  "me"  and  "my" 
constantly  occur,  showing  that  his  thoughts  were 
occupied  with  his  own  goodness,  and  therefore 
inevitably  leading  to  the  mournful  conclusion,  "  Let 
thistles  grow  instead  of  wheat,  and  cockle  instead 
of  barley.  The  words  of  Job  are  ended,"  xxvii.- 
xxxi.  Fourth,  Elihu,  meaning  "  My  God  is  Pe," 
i.  e.,  the  Lord,  appears  upon  the  scene,  acting 
according  to  Job's  wish  "  in  God's  stead,"  and  as 
a  type  of  the  daysman  for  whom  Job  longed ;  and  he 
teaches  the  doctrine  that  if  a  man  will  confess  his 
sinfulness,  instead  of  asserting  his  righteousness, 
God  will  say,  "Deliver  him  from  going  down 
into  the  pit;  I  have  found  a  ransom,"  xxxii.- 
xxxviii.  Fifth,  the  Lord  answers  Job  out  of  the 
whirlwind,  and  displays  His  glory  and  majesty, 
xxxviii.-xli.  Sixth,  Job  takes  his  right  place  be- 
fore God :  "  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes,'^  xlii.  1-7.  Seventh,  Job's  deliverance, 
restoration,  enlargement,  and  blessing,  receiving 
double  lor  all  he  had  lost,  and  the  same  number  of 
children  he  had  before,  as  those  who  had  died  were 
still  his.  The  general  teachings  of  the  book  arc, 
(1)  the  personality  and  malice  of  Satan ;  (2)  the 
world  by  wisdom  knows  not  God,  not  knowing 
grace;  (3)  the  folly  of  self- righteousness  ;   (4)  the 


26  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

need  of  a  daysman  between  God  and  sinners  ;  (5) 
the  unsearchable  perfections  of  Jehovah  ;  (6)  the 
vileness  of  the  most  perfect  man  in  His  sight; 
(7)  "  the  end  of  the  Lord,  that  the  Lord  is  very 
pitiful,  and  of  tender  mercy." 

PSALMS. 

This  remarkable  collection  of  inspired  writings, 
one  of  which  at  least  was  composed  1500  years 
before  Christ,  has  ever  been  regarded  by  the  saints 
of  God  as  a  most  suitable  vehicle  for  the  expres- 
sion of  their  varied  experience.  So  wonderful  is 
the  range  of  thought  and  eniotion  they  embody,  we 
are  not  surprised  at  the  strong  language  of  Edward 
Irving,  '^  Every  angel  of  joy  and  of  sorrow  swept, 
as  he  i:)assed,  over  David's  harp ;"  and  "  the  hearts 
of  a  hundred  men  strove  and  struggled  together 
within  the  narrow  continent  of  his  single  heart." 
This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  describe  so 
largely  in  prophecy  the  inner  life  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  "was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we 
are,  yet  without  sin ;"  and  unless  the  fact  is  kept 
constantly  in  view,  they  can  not  be  read  intelli- 
gently. Of  the  sevent3'-five  quotations  from  the 
Psalms  found  in  the  New  Testament,  more  than 
fifty  represent  Christ  as  the  speaker,  or  are  directly 
applied  to  Him,  while  He  Himself  affirms  that  He 


BOOKS    OF   THE  BIBLE.  ^t 

is  the  theme  of  their  testimony,  (Luke  xxiv.  44; 
John  Y.  39).  Hence  those  who  see  in  these  beauti- 
ful songs  only  David  and  his  circumstances,  or 
David  and  the  church,  or,  in  the  words  of  certain 
recent  expositors,  the  "  Jewish  remnant  '^  as  their 
leading  topic,  are  equally  mistaken.  Their  main 
purpose  is  to  set  forth  the  sinless  and  suffering 
Messiah,  first  in  His  relations  to  Israel,  especially 
Israel  in  the  last  days  ;  and,  second,  in  His  rela- 
tions to  His  redeemed  of  all  lands  and  all  ages. 
But  they  can  not  be  understood,  unless  "  dispensa- 
tional  truth  "  is  known.  The  medley  of  interpreta- 
tion in  nearly  all  the  commentaries,  which  identifies 
Israel  with  the  church,  the  earthly  i^eople  with  the 
heavenly,  the  place  of  responsibility  among  the 
nations  with  separation  from  the  world,  tends  only 
to  confuse  rather  than  to  enlighten.  Nor  can  they 
be  perused  with  profit,  until  the  Christian  has 
learned  to  distinguish  things  that  differ,  remember- 
ing that  he  is  not  under  law  but  grace,  that  he  is 
no  longer  a  servant  but  a  full  grown  son,  linked  ta 
the  risen  Christ,  and  having  his  place  and  portion 
in  the  heavenlies. 

The  entire  collection  is  divided  into  five  books. 
First,  Ps.  i.-xli.,  closing  with  a  doxology  and  double 
Amen.  Second,  Ps.  xlii.-lxxii.,  closing  with  a  dox- 
ology and  double  Amen,  and  adding,  "The  prayers 
of  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  are  ended."     Third,  Ps. 


1^8  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Ixxiii.-lxxxix.,  closing  with  a  doxology  and  double 
Amen.  Fourth,  Ps.  xc.-cvi.,  closing  with  a  doxology. 
Amen,  and  Hallelujah.  Fifth,  Ps.  cvii.-cl.,  closing 
with  a  rapid  succession  of  Hallelujahs.  Book  I, 
Christ  in  covenant  relation  to  His  people,  walking 
in  communion  though  in  the  midst  of  trials; 
^'Jehovah,''  the  covenant  title  in  redemption, 
occurring  more  than  270  times;  "  God,'^  creation 
title,  not  50  times.  Book  II,  Christ  in  connection 
with  His  people,  viewed  as  out  of  the  land ;  "  Jeho- 
vah '^  occurring  about  30  times,  and  "  God  "  more 
than  200  times.  Book  III,  Christ  in  connection 
with  Israel  from  the  beginning  of  their  history; 
*' Jehovah '^  occurring  about  50  times;  "God" 
about  60  times.  Book  lY,  Christ  coming  to  take 
the  kingdom,  and  to  bless  the  Gentiles,  the  prog- 
ress and  results  of  His  advent  being  celebrated ; 
^'Jehovah"  occurring  more  than  100  times,  and 
"God"  about  20  times.  Book  Y,  Christ  ruling 
over  all  to  prepare  the  Jews  for  His  earthly  reign ; 
"  Jehovah  "  occurring  more  than  230  times ;  "  God" 
about  30  times. 

PROYERBS. 

This  book  views  Christ,  as  the  Wisdom  of  God, 
governing  the  affairs  of  men,  and  guiding  in  the 
practical  details  of  life.  It  exhibits  the  connection 
between  sowing  and  reaj^ing,  guarding  particularly 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  29 

against  evils  that  are  ]3rominent  iu  our  own  day^ 
as  (1)  disobedience  to  parents,  (2)  bad  company, 
(3)  licentiousness,  (4)  falsehood,  (5)  indolence,  (6) 
intemperance,  (7)  a  contentious  and  envious  spirit. 
It  is  divided  into  four  parts ;  First,  the  general 
princii)les  that  should  control  the  conduct,  i.-ix.  ^ 
Second,  aphorisms,  or  brief  sentences,  or  proverbs, 
containing  a  world  of  wisdom  to  direct  in  every 
event  and  at  every  step  of  our  journey  here, 
x.-xxix. ;  the  last  five  chapters  of  this  section  con- 
sisting of  ^'  proverbs  of  Solomon,  which  the  men 
of  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  copied  out ;"  Third,  the 
words  or  prophecy  of  Agur,  summing  up  human 
experience  and  observation,  xxx. ;  Fourth,  the 
words  of  king  Lemuel,  giving  us  a  beautiful  i)icture 
of  a  just  ruler,  and  of  the  church,  under  the 
figure  of  a  woman,  loyal  to  her  Bridegroom. 

ECOLESIASTES. 

The  opening  verse  gives  the  title  of  the  book, 
"  The  words  of  Koh-heh-leth,  the  son  of  David,  King 
in  Jerusalem.'^  Koh-heh-leth  occurs  seven  times, 
but  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  Bible,  and  was 
translated'  into  Greek  by  the  word  UccJesiasteSy 
loosely  rendered  in  English  "  the  Preacher."  The 
second  verse  gives  the  key-note  of  the  book, 
"  Yanity  of  vanities,  saith  the  Preacher,  vanity  of 


30  BOOKS   OP   THE  BIBLE. 

vanities;  all  is  vanity.'^  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  he  treats  only  of  that  which  is  "  under 
the  sun,"  and  hence  he  leaves  us  a  most  valuable,  be- 
cause inspired,  record  of  the  bitter  disappointment 
which  awaits  those,  whose  faith  and  hope  and 
love  do  not  soar  above  the  sun,  "  where  Christ 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God."  He  gave  him- 
self (1)  to  study,  exploring  the  depths  of  philosophy 
and  science ;  (2)  he  proved  what  is  in  mirth  and 
pleasure  to  impart  happiness;  (3)  he  tested  the 
power  of  wine  to  dispel  care  and  sorrow ;  (4)  he 
engaged  in  great  works,  building  houses,  planting 
vineyards,  setting  out  garden  and  orchards,  with 
pools  of  water;  (5)  he  got  him  servants  and 
maidens,  and  had  sons  born  in  his  house,  and  great 
possessions  above  all  that  were  in  Jerusalem  be- 
fore him,  gatheriug  gold  and  silver,  and  the  choicest 
works  of  art ;  (6)  he  summoned  about  him  men 
singers  and  women  singers,  and  the  delights  of  the 
sons  of  men,  as  musical  instruments,  and  that  of 
all  sorts  ;  (7)  he  was  crowned  with  fame  ;  and  found 
that  all  the  ambitions  and  enjoymentsof  the  world 
turned  to  ashes  in  his  grasp.  "  Let  us  hear  the 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter:  Fear  God,  and 
keep  his  commandments  :  for  this  is  the  whole  duty 
of  man.  For  God  shall  bring  every  work  into 
judgment,  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be 
good,  or  V7hether  it  be  evil." 


BOOKS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  'U 

SOLOMON'S   SONG. 


This  is  indeed  the  song  of  songs.  It  celebrates 
the  love  of  the  divine  Bridegroom  and  the  bride, 
who  is  here  restored  Israel,  with  the  converted 
Gentiles  as  the  attendant  virgins.  '*  Let  him  kiss 
me  with  the  kisses  of  his  mouth:  for  thy  love  is 
better  than  wine.''  The  book  contains  expressions 
of  mutual  affection  and  admiration,  with  confes- 
sions of  failure  on  the  part  of  the  bride,  but  there 
is  no  change  in  the  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
If  she  exclaims,  "  I  am  black,"  He  responds,  "  Thou 
art  all  fair,  my  love;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee." 
All  He  desires  is  to  look  upon  one  whom  He  has 
so  loved,  that  He  gave  Himself  for  her.  "  O  my 
dove,  that  art  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  in  the 
secret  places  of  the  stairs,  let  me  see  thy  counte- 
nance, let  me  hear  thy  voice."  He  wants  to  see 
the  countenance  before  hearing  the  voice.  There 
is  also  a  growing  experience  on  her  x>art  of  His 
deep  and  unchangeable  love.  At  first  she  can  say 
with  a  bounding  heart,  *'  My  beloved  is  mine,  and 
I  am  his  ;"  but  at  last  she  can  declare  in  fuller 
trust,  "  I  am  my  beloved's,  and  his  desire  is  toward 
me."  During  the  night  of  His  i^ersonal  absence 
she  cries,  ^'  Until  the  day  break,  and  the  shadows 
flee  away,  turn,  my  beloved ;  and  be  thou  like  a 
roe,  or  a    young  hart,  upon    the    mountains    of 


32  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Bether,"  division,  or  separation.  But  as  the  time 
draws  near,  when  she  is  to  come  up  from  the 
wilderness,  leaning  upon  her  beloved,  her  desire 
for  His  appearing  is  more  intense.  The  last  words 
of  the  book,  like  the  last  words  of  Kevelation,  form 
an  earnest  prayer  for  His  speedy  advent ;  ''  Make 
haste,  my  beloved,  and  be  thou  like  to  a  roe,  or  to 
a  young  hart,  upon  the  mountains  of  spices." 


It  may  be  well  before  entering  upon  the  i)rophe- 
cies  to  say  that  they  must  be  studied  in  the  light 
of  two  principles :  First,  they  express  the  counsels 
of  God  with  respect  to  His  Son,  and  look  on  to  the 
great  crisis  that  is  to  usher  in  His  second  advent. 
Second,  while  many  of  the  events  which  they  pre- 
dict may  have  had  a  fulfillment  in  the  i)ast,  they 
can  have  their  fJIfuUment  Gn\y  in  that  grand  con- 
summation, toward  which  the  church  and  the 
world  are  so  fast  hastening.  The  five  books  known 
as  "  the  Law  "  give  us  the  utterance  of  God's  voice, 
showing  what  man  ought  to  Z>^,  followed  by  the  his- 
torical books,  showing  what  man  is  under  the  best 
circumstances.  "  The  Prophets  '^  give  us  the 
utterance  of  God's  voice,  showing  what  man  will 
be  till  Jesus  comes.  The  five  books  known  as 
"the  Psalms,"  and  including  Job,  Psalms,  Proverbs, 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  33 

Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of  Solomon,  give  us  the 
utterance  of  man^s  voice,  telling  out  the  various 
phases  of  human  experience. 

Job  shows  us  "  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man," 
confessing,  after  creature  goodness  was  thoroughly 
tested,  that  he  was  "  vile,"  and  abhorring  himself. 
The  Psalms  record  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the  hopes 
ind  disappointments,  the  victories  and  defeats,  of 
Israel  and  of  the  Church  also,  but  having  through 
it  all  the  sympathy  of  a  heart  over  which  no 
storms  can  any  more  sweep.  In  Proverbs,  Solomon 
is  led  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  trace  the  path  of  wis- 
d  m  in  the  midst  of  abounding  evils,  making  plain 
the  harmony  of  God's  providential  government 
with  obedience  to  His  word.  In  Ecclesiastes  we 
hear  the  dirge  of  a  dead  world,  with  its  greatest 
prince  as  chief  mourner.  The  wisest  of  men,  with 
matchless  skill  to  make  the  largest  i)0ssible  use  of 
limitless  resources,  and  with  determined  will  to 
test  to  the  utmost  all  sources  of  earthly  hapi:)iness, 
comes  forth  with  the  wail,  "  all  is  vanity."  In  the 
Song  of  Songs,  Solomon  appears  once  more,  after 
his  bitter- grief,  to  celebrate  in  sweetest  strains  the 
approaching  nuptials  of  the  Prince  of  peace  with 
restored  Israel,  amid  the  rejoicing  of  the  nations, 
when  the  Church  shall  have  been  caught  up  in 
clouds  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.  "  Even  so, 
come,  Lord  Jesus." 


34  B00K3   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

ISAIAH. 

It  is  needless  to  remiucl  the  careful  reader  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  that  the  prophetical  books  are 
not  arranged  in  chronological  order.  That  order 
is  probably  as  follows  : 

Joel,  Hosea,  Habakkuk,  Daniel, 

Obadiah,  Micali,  Zephaniab,  Haggai, 

Jonah,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Zechariah, 

Amos,  Xahum,  Ezekiel,  Malachi. 

Here  we  have  sixteen  "holy  men  of  God''  who 
"  spake  as  they  were  moved  b}'  the  Holy  Ghost," 
(2  Pet.  i.  21),  appearing  together,  or  at  intervals 
for  nearly  five  hundred  years,  and  leaving  on 
record  seventeen  distinct  testimonies  that  still 
reach  in  their  final  sweep  into  the  future. 

Of  these  Isaiah,  whose  name  means  "  Salvation 
of  the  Lord,"  or  ''  The  Lord  will  save,"  is  appro- 
priately i)laced  at  the  head,  as  he  may  be  i>re- 
emineutly  styled  the  x^rophet  of  redemption.  His 
ministry-  extended  from  the  year  B.  C.  756,  to  the 
year  B.  C.  711,  and  included  the  reigns  of  Hzziah, 
Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah,  Kings  of  Judah. 
When  he  states,  as  in  the  opening  verse,  that  he  is 
about  to  relate  the  vision  which  he  saw  concerning 
Judah  and  Jerusalem,  he  means  i^recisely  what  he 
says.  It  is  a  vision  concerning  Judah  and  Jerusa- 
lem, and  not    concerning    the  Christian  Church, 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 


35 


however  proper  it  may  be  for  us  to  learn  lessons 
of  wisdom  from  the  great  i)riuciples  of  God's  deal- 
ings with  men  of  old,  which  are  of  course  applicable 
to  all  people  in  all  ages.  But  so  far  is  it  from 
being  true  that  the  Church  is  his  theme,  we  are 
explicitly  told  in  the  New  Testament  that  it  did 
not  please  the  Holy  Ghost  to  reveal  to  the  ancient 
prophets  the  mystery  of  Christ  and  the  church,  or 
the  Church  as  it  really  exists,  the  body  of  the  risen 
Christ,  Eph.  iii.5,  6;  Kom.  xvi.  25,  26. 

Chapter  i.  of  Isaiah's  i^rophecy  includes  the 
entire  period  of  which  he  treats,  and  therefore  may 
be  regarded  as  a  preface  or  introduction.  Judah 
and  Jerusalem  are  the  prominent  subjects  through- 
out. The  following  divisions  may  be  helpful : 
First,  the  sore  punishment  of  the  Jews,  with  their 
certain  restoration  and  song  of  joy  at  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  i.-xii.  Second,  the  burden  of 
•seven  Gentile  nations,  that  would  have  had  no 
mention  by  the  Spirit  but  for  their  connection  with 
God's  covenant  people,  and  that  will  reappear, 
though  under  new  names,  at  the  close  of  Jewish 
history,  ending  with  the  promise  of  the  second 
3oming  of  Christ,  xiii.-xxvii.  Third,  God's  wrath 
upon  Israel  as  more  guilty  than  the  surrounding 
Gentile  nations,  ending  with  the  promise  of  the 
second  coming  of  Christ,  xxviii.-xxxv.  Fourth, 
historical,  this  being  the  third  recital  of  the  events 


36  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

recorded,  because  it  presents  in  type  Israel  sick 
unto  death,  the  ai)pearing  of  antichrist,  the  mirac- 
ulous deliverance  of  the  Jews,  accomplished,  as 
we  learn  elsewhere,  by  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
xxxvi.-xxxix.  Filth,  God's  controversy  with  Israel 
for  idolatry,  containing  promise  of  the  second  com- 
ing of  Christ,  but  ending  with  the  words,  "  There 
is  no  peace,  saith  the  Lord,  unto  the  wicked," 
xl.-xlviii.  Sixth,  God's  sharper  controversy  with 
Israel  for  the  rejection  of  Christ,  containing 
promise  of  His  second  coming,  but  ending  with  the 
sharper  words,  "  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God, 
to  the  wicked,"  xlix.-lvii.  Seventh,  a  beautiful 
description  of  the  second  coming  of  Christ  at  the 
very  time  of  Israel's  worldliness  and  hypocrisy 
and  defilement,  but  ending  with  a  far  more  emphatic 
warning  to  unbelievers,  "  Their  worm  shall  not  die, 
neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched ;  and  they  shall 
be  an  abhorring  unto  all  flesh,"  Iviii.-lxvi. 

JEREMIAH. 

His  name  means  "  whom  the  Lord  sets,  appoints," 
or  as  some  say,  "  Elevated  of  the  Lord."  The  word 
of  the  Lord  came  to  him  when  he  was  very  young, 
in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Josiah,  or  B.  C.  628,  so 
that  he  followed  Isaiah  at  the  distance  of  about 
one  hundred  years.    He  was  contemporary  with 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  Oi 

2ephamah,  Habakkuk,  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel,  pre- 
ceding the  last  two  by  a  brief  interval.  He  deliv- 
ered his  discourses  at  particular  times  during  a 
period  of  more  than  forty  years,  and  hence  the 
lack  of  chronological  order  and  logical  arrange- 
ment. Although  his  entire  ministry  was  passed 
in  the  most  trying  circumstances,  immediately  i^re^ 
ceding  and  immediately  succeeding  the  Babylonian 
invasion  and  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  he  may  be  i)re- 
eminently  called  the  i)rophet  of  hope. 

Chapter  i.,  as  with  Isaiah,  is  a  geceral  introduc 
tion  to  his  book,  which  may  be  divided  as  follows ; 
First,  the  bitter  complaints  of  Jehovah  against  the 
Jews  for  their  perversity,  and  idolatry,  and 
manifold  sins,  ending  with  the  ory  of  the  i^rophet's 
wounded  heart,  cursing  the  very  day  wherein  he 
was  born,  i.-xx.  Second,  specific  predictions 
against  individuals,  as  Zedekiah,  Shallum,  Jehoia- 
kim,  and  Couiah,  false  prophets  and  false  priests, 
together  with  the  distinct  announcement  of  the 
overthrow  of  the  house  of  Judah  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and  the  seventy  years'  captivity,  xxi.-xxix. 
Third,  the  promised  restoration  of  Israel,  looking 
forward  most  clearly  and  iuily  to  their  final 
re-establishment  in  their  own  land  at  the  personal 
second  coming  of  Christ,  xxx.-xxxiii.  Fourth,  his^ 
torical,  showing  the  false  confidence  of  the  princes 
and   the  i)eople,  the  Nazarite  separation  of   the 


38  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Eechabites  in  the  midst  of  abounding  evils,  the 
contempt  of  the  king  for  the  word  of  God,  the 
scourging  and  imprisonment  of  the  prophet,  the 
capture  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  release 
of  Jeremiah  and  his  removal  to  Egypt,  but  the 
continuance  of  God's  testimony  through  it  all, 
xxxiv.-xlv.  Fifth,  the  judgment  of  seven  sur- 
rounding Gentile  nations,  xlvi.-xlix.  Sixth,  the 
fearful  doom  of  Babylon,  and  the  glorious  redemp- 
tion of  Israel,  plainly  looking  on  to  a  period  yet 
future,  L,  li.     Seventh,  historical  appendix,  lii. 

LAMENTATIONS. 

This  remarkable  book  is  a  dirge  consisting  of 
five  elegies,  sung  amid  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem. 
Each  of  these  has  twenty-two  stanzas,  according 
to  the  number  of  letters  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet. 
The  third  chapter,  however,  has  sixty-six  stanzas, 
containing  three  short  verses  under  each  letter  of 
the  alphabet,  the  initial  letter  being  three  times 
repeated.  The  first  four  elegies  are  acrostic,  the 
successive  stanzas  beginning  with  the  successive 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  but  in  the  fifth  the  alpha- 
betic arrangement  disappears.  As  in  the  Psalms, 
the  sufferings  of  God's  people  are  so  linked  with 
the  sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  lie  is  to 
be  kept  in  view  all   the   time.     First,  we  hear  the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  ^0 

touching  lament  of  Zion,  sitting  like  a  desolate 
widow  in  unutterable  grief.  "  Is  it  nothing  to  you, 
all  ye  that  pass  by  ?  behold,  and  see  if  there  be  any 
sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow,  which  is  done  unto 
me,  wherewith  the  Lord  hath  afflicted  me  in  the 
day  of  his  fierce  anger.''  But  she  also  confesses, 
"  The  Lord  is  righteous  ;  for  I  have  rebelled  against 
his  commandment,"  i.  Second,  This  is  followed  by 
the  lament  of  the  prophet.  ''All  that  T)ass  by  clap 
their  hands  at  thee  ;  they  hiss  and  wag  their  head 
at  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem,  saying.  Is  this  the 
city  that  men  call  The  perfection  of  beauty.  The 
joy  of  the  whole  earth  f  He  then  beseeches 
Jehovah  to  behold  the  low  estate  of  His  i)eople,  ii. 
Third,  Jeremiah  describes  his  own  deep  afflictions, 
but  hope  lights  up  the  darkness,  and  in  the  bright- 
ness of  this  hope,  he  looks  on  to  the  time  when 
judgment  shall  be  established  on  the  earth  under 
the  sceptre  of  Christ,  iii.  Fourth,  the  prophet 
identifies  himself  with  the  afflicted  people,  in  dis- 
tinction from  their  false  prophets  and  priests,  and 
although  the  sufferings  of  Jerusalem  were  so  great 
that  "  the  hands  of  the  pitiful  women  have  sodden 
their  own  children,''  yet  he  anticipates  with  joy 
the  restoration  and  triumph  of  Israel,  iv.  Fifth, 
the  last  elegy  is  the  voice  of  the  stricken  people, 
and  is  throughout  an  earnest  appeal  for  divine 
mercy,  v. 


4U  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

EZEKIEL. 

After  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  by  the  wort^ 
less  Jehoiachim,  and  previous  to  its  destruction 
under  Zedekiah,  many  of  the  noblest  in  the  land 
were  carried  away  in  captivity  to  the  rivers  of 
Babylon.  Jeremiah  remained  in  the  city  until  its 
overthrow,  and  sent  an  inspired  messaf:;:e  to  the 
captives,  recorded  in  the  twenty-ninth  chapter  of 
his  x>roi)hecy,  warning  them  against  the  delusion 
of  believing  that  they  would  soon  return  from  their 
exile.  Among  these  captives  was  Ezekiel,  the 
meaning  of  whose  name  is  ''  God  shall  strengthen,*' 
or  *' Strength  of  God."  Like  Jeremiah  Le  was  a 
priest  by  extraction,  and  like  him  and  Isaiah  also, 
his  prophecy  was  principally  concerning  Judah 
and  Jerusalem,  and  not  concerning  the  Christian 
Church.  Part  of  his  ])redictions  and  messages  he 
delivered  i)revious  to  the  final  capture  and  desola- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  and  part  afterwards. 

First,  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  captivity  he  beheld 
the  vision  of  the  Cherubim  and  of  the  glory  of  God, 
followed  by  his  commission,  as  a  watchman  unto 
the  house  of  Israel,  i.-iii.  Second,  then  came 
strange  signs  and  visions,  setting  forth  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  x^eople  and  their  impending  doom  ;  and 
in  the  midst  of  his  denunciations  he  was  carried  in 
the  spirit  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  beheld  the  glory 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  41 

of  God,  which  lingered  about  the  threshhold  of  the 
temple,  arose  from  the  midst  of  the  city,'  stood  for 
a  moment  on  the  mount  of  Olives,  and  then 
disapi^eared,  iv.-xi.  Third,  having  been  returned 
by  the  Spirit  into  captivity,  he  enters  upon  a  series 
of  typical  actions,  and  delivers  stern  reproofs,  all 
bearing  upon  the  swiftly  approaching  doom  of  his 
distant  countrymen,  until  on  the  very  day  the 
Chaldean  aimy.  invested  Jerusalem,  he  told  his 
fellow-prisoners  in  Babylon  what  was  occurring 
hundreds  of  miles  away;  and  his  wife  dying'on  the 
evening  of  the  same  day,  in  obedience  to  God's 
command,  he  shed  no  tear,  to  signify  that  a 
heavier  woe  was  at  hand,  xii.-xxiv.  Fourth,  but 
if  Jerusalem  is  punished,  the  wicked  heathen  shall 
not  escape,  and  sentence  of  judgment  is  pronounced 
upon  seven  Gentile  nations,  the  prince  of  Tyre 
being  made  a  type  of  antichrist,  and  Egypt  a  type 
of  the  world,  xxv.-xxxii.  Fifth,  upon  the  news  of 
the  cai^ture  of  Jerusalem,  he  is  led  to  predict  the 
long  continued  desolation  of  the  laud,  ascribed  to 
the  influence  of  false  shepherds,  but  also  the  literal 
and  happy  restoration  of  the  widely  scattered  flock, 
by  the  power  of  the  true  Shepherd  at  His  second 
coming,  xxxiii.-xxxvii.  Sixth,  this  restoration  is 
to  be  followed  by  an  invasion  of  their  land  from 
Eussia  and  its  dependencies  ;  but  the  armies  of  the 
uncircumcised  will  find  a  i)lace  of  graves,  and  the 


42  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

debris  of  the  battle-field  will  supply  Israel  with 
fire  wood,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.  Seventh,  all  their 
enemies  having  been  crushed,  the  glory  returns, 
the  temple  is  built,  Jesus  is  worshipped  as  King 
over  all  the  earth,  and  the  Holy  City  shall  be 
named  Jehovah-Shammah,  the  Lord  is  there, 
xl.-xlviii. 

DANIEL. 

During  the  Babylonian  captivity  the  Holy  Ghost 
raised*  up  a  man  whose  inspired  testimony  opens  a 
most  important  era,  for  it  marks  "  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles.'^  The  testimony  is  given  in  Chaldee 
from  the  fourth  verse  of  the  second  chapter  to  the 
close  of  the  seventh  chapter,  as  if  God  would  say 
to  the  proud  kingdoms  of  the  world,  *'  Eead  in  your 
own  language  what  shall  be  the  end  of  your  boasted 
power."  The  book  is  divided  into  two  equal  parts, 
the  historical,  i.-vi.,  and  the  prophetical,  vii.-xii. 
But  the  historical  is  ]3rophetical  in  the  sense  that 
it  is  typical,  the  characteristic  features  of  Gentile 
dominion  being  exhibited  in  the  singular  narratives 
that  interrupt  the  visions  of  the  seer.  Its  idolatry 
is  shown  in  the  golden  image  which  the  king  of 
Babylon  commanded  all  people,  nations,  and  lan- 
guages to  worship  ;  its  pride  and  brutal  indifference 
to  God  is  shown  in  the  degradation  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar to  the  condition  of  the  beasts ;  its  impiety 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  43 

and  sensuality  in  Belshazzar's  wild,  revelry ;  its 
daring  blasphemy  in  the  decree  of  Darius,  antici- 
pating the  antichrist,  forbidding  prayer  to  be 
offered  to  any  being  other  than  himself. 

But  apart  from  this  the  book  gives  us  in  unmis- 
takeable  outline  the  course  of  the  present  age  down 
to  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  First,  we  have 
Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  in  which  the  four  great 
world  powers  are  clearly  delineated,  and  during 
the  existence  of  the  last  of  these  in  a  divided  state» 
the  God  of  heaven  sets  uj)  a  kingdom  which  shall 
never  be  destroyed,  ii.  Second,  in  the  first  year  of 
Belshazzar  Daniel  had  a  dream,  and  in  his  vision 
saw  the  same  four  world  powers,  symbolized  by 
four  beasts,  with  the  added  feature  of  a  power 
known  as  the  "little  horn,"  the  antichrist  making 
war  with  the  saints,  and  prevailing  against  them 
until  Jesus  comes  in  person,  vii.  Third,  in  the 
third  year  of  Belshazzar  he  had  another  vision  in 
which  the  beasts  are  not  only  most  appropriately 
described,  but  two  of  them  are  named,  as  Babylon 
has  been  x)reviously  named,  so  that  we  do  not  need  to 
go  out  of  the  Bible  to  learn  that  the  four  universal 
empires  are  the  Babylonian,  Medo  Persian,  Grecian, 
and  Eoman,  viii.  Fourth,  in  the  first  year  of 
Darius,  after  earnest  prayer  and  humble  confession, 
Daniel  learns  that  seventy  periods  of  seven  will 
include  the  whole  troubled  history  of  his  people. 


44  BOOKS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

the  Jews,  and  of  his  holy  city,  Jerusalem  ;  sixty- 
nine  of  these  i^eriods  having  elapsed  when  Messiah 
was  cut  off,  and  the  seventieth  heptad  still  lying 
in  the  future,  the  interval  being  filled  by  the  church, 
of  which  no  notice  is  here  taken,  ix.  Fifth,  in  the 
third  year  of  Cyrus,  another  vision  was  granted, 
which  was  designed,  as  he  was  told,  to  make  him 
understand  what  shall  befall  his  people,  that  is, 
the  Jews,  in  the  latter  days  :  "  for  yet  the  vision  is 
for  many  days,"  x.  Sixth,  in  the  first  year  of 
Darius  the  Mede,  a  wonderful  vision  passed  before 
bis  rapt  spirit,  that  unfolds  the  history  of  the  Jews 
after  prophecy  ceased  with  Malachi,  and  before  the 
birth  of  Messiah,  but  that  reaches  on  to  the  reign 
of  antichrist,  xi.  Seventh,  deliverance  comes  at 
last,  and  Daniel  whose  name  means  "  God  is  my 
Judge,"  or,  "  Judge  of  God,"  the  singularly  con- 
scientious and  consecrated  youth  and  man,  almost 
blameless  in  the  highest  aud  most  trying  position, 
will  stand  in  his  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days,  crowned 
with  the  approval  of  his  Lord. 

HOSEA. 

This  prophet,  whose  name  means  "  Deliverance 
or  Salvation,"  is  the  first  of  those  known  as 
the  twelve  Minor  Prophets,  whose  books  were 
written  at  various  periods   extending    over  four 


BOOKS  PF  THE  BIBLE.  45 

hundred  years.  He  lived  duriug  the  long  and 
vigorous  reign  of  Jeroboam  the  second,  king  of 
Israel,  and  was  contemporary  with  Isaiah.  But 
unlike  the  latter  i)rophet,  who  was  burdened  chiefly 
about  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  Hosea  was  princi- 
pally occupied  in  uttering  the  lamentation  of  Jeho- 
vah over  the  ten  separated  tribes  of  Israel,  who 
had  persistently  broken  His  covenant,  and  hard- 
ened their  hearts  against  the  moving  entreaties  of 
His  love.  But  amid  all  the  touching  expressions 
of  wounded  and  disappointed  affection,  there  is 
distinct  promise  of  both  spiritual  and  national 
recovery,  of  both  conversion  and  restoration. 

In  the  first  section  the  prophet  is  directed  to 
take  "  a  wife  of  whoredoms,"  obviously  a  symbolic 
action,  designed  to  be  a  living  parable  of  the 
unfaithfulness  of  Israel  to  God.  Of  the  three 
children  i^roceeding  from  this  marriage,  one  was 
named  Jezreel,  "  God  will  scatter  or  sow ;"  one 
was  called  Lo-ruhamah,  "Not  having  obtained 
mercy;"  and  the  third  Lo-ammi,  "  ]^ot  my  people." 
But  God  announces  His  purpose  to  hedge  up  the 
way  of  His  unfaithful  wife  with  thorns,  and  by  and 
by  to  allure  her,  and  bring  her  into  the  wilderness, 
and  speak  to  her  heart,  until  fehe  shall  cry  Ishi, 
*'  my  husband,"  and  be  betrothed  unto  Him  for- 
ever, the  queen  regent  of  earth,  during  the  millen- 
nial age.    Meanwhile  "  the  children  of  Israel  shall 


4G  BOOKS   OF   THS  BIBLE. 

abide  many  days  without  a  king,  and  without  a 
prince,  and  without  a  sacrifice,  and  without  an 
image,  and  without  an  ephod,  and  without  tera- 
phim,"  i.-iii. 

In  the  second  ♦section  the  wickedness  of  the 
people,  the  priests,  and  the  princes,  is  sharply 
reproved,  and  it  closes  with  the  warning,  "  I  will 
go  and  return  to  my  place,  till  they  acknowledge 
their  offence,  and  seek  my  face."  The  central 
thought  of  the  section  is,  "  My  people  are  destroyed 
for  lack  of  knowledge,"  iv.-v.  In  the  third  section 
we  have  an  impassioned  appeal  and  earnest  expos- 
tulation, showing  that  the  lack  of  knowledge  is 
followed  by  intense  worldliness,  "  Ephraim,  he 
hath  mixed  himself  among  the  people  ;  Ephraim  is 
a  cake  not  turned,"  vi.,  vii.  In  the  fourth  section 
there  is  stern  threatening,  for  the  worldliness  is 
succeeded  by  utter  corruption ;  '*  They  have  deeply 
corrupted  themselves,  as  in  the  days  of  Gibeah : 
therefore  he  will  remember  their  iniquity,  he  will 
visit  their  sins,"  viii.,  ix.  In  the  fifth  section 
Israel  is  described  as  an  empty  vine,  and  then  as  a 
child  most  tenderly  loved ;  but  "  my  people  are 
bent  to  backsliding  from  me :  though  they  called 
them  to  the  Most  High,  none  at  all  would  exalt 
him,"  X.,  xi.  In  the  sixth  section  Judah  comes  in 
for  a  share  in  God's  reproof,  but  the  Holy  Ghost 
speedily  turns  again  to  Ephraim,  representing  the 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  47 

ti  n  tribes,  as  pre-eminently  wicked,  and  following 
the  backsliding  with  open  idolatry,  to  be  terribly 
l)!inislied:  "And  now  they  sin  more  and  more,  and 
have  made  them  molten  images  of  their  silver,  and 
idols  according  to  their  own  understanding,'^  xii., 
xiii.  In  the  seventh  section  they  are  exhorted  to 
return  unto  the  Lord,  because  they  had  fallen  by 
their  iniquity,  and  are  told  precisely  how  to  return, 
and  what  words  to  use,  with  the  assurance  that 
they  will  be  received  and  healed  and  abundantly 
blessed,  xiv. 

JOEL. 

There  is  no  mention  of  the  time  in  which  this 
prophet  lived,  although  it  has  been  supposed,  from 
certain  internal  evidences,  that  he  was  the  earliest 
of  all  the  prophets,  major  or  minor.  His  name 
means  "  Jehovah  is  God,"  and  brief  as  is  his 
prophecy,  it  sweeps  over  the  entire  history  of  the 
people  who  forgot  that  Jehovah  is  God,  from  the 
time  it  was  uttered  to  the  second  advent  of  Christ. 
In  the  Hebrew  Bible  it  is  divided  into  four  chap- 
ters, but  if  it  is  proper  to  make  any  break  at  all, 
it  should  occur  at  the  eighteenth  verse  of  the 
second  chapter. 

First,  the  Holy  Ghost  uses  the  devastations 
brought  about  by  locusts  as  a  type  of  the  terrible 
judgments  to  be  inflicted  bytlie  invasion  of  hostile 
armies,  and  therefore  calls  ui)on  the  i)riests  and 


48  BOOKS    OF   THE   BIBLE. 

the  elders,  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride,  the  chil- 
dren and  all  the  i:)eople,  to  humble  themselves  in 
deep  penitence  before  the  Lord  God  of  hosts,  i.,  ii. 
1-17.  This  is  followed  by  the  assurance  that  He 
will  be  merciful,  removing  the  armies  of  the 
iavaders,  restoring  the  temporal  blessings  which 
they  had  lost,  and  planting  them  in  their  own 
land,  where,  it  is  said,  "  Ye  shall  eat  in  plenty,  and 
be  satisfied,  and  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord  your 
God,  that  hath  dealt  wondrously  with  you :  and 
my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed.  And  ye  shall 
know  that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  and  that  I 
am  the  Lord  your  God,  and  none  else :  and  my 
people  shall  never  be  ashamed." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  thic  i)rophecy  awaits 
its  fulfillment,  but  it  is  important  to  notice  i  hat 
God  declares,  "  It  shall  come  to  pass  afterivard  I 
will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  When  the 
Apostle  quotes  this  language  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, he  does  not  say  the  scene  then  witnessed  was 
a  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy,  but,  "  This  is  that 
which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel ;"  and  we 
know  that  the  signs  accompanying  the  prediction 
were  not  witnessed,  ''blood,  and  fire,  and  vapour 
of  smoke ;  the  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness, 
and  the  moon  into  blood,  before  that  great  and 
notable  day  of  the  Lord  come."  These  signs  did 
not  lollow  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  in  Peter's  day. 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  49 

^tjcause  Israel  was  not  then  repentant  and  obedient, 
but  as  God's  word  is  true,  they  will  surely  be  seen 
in  a  day  yet  future. 

Hence  the  last  chapter  tells  of  the  gathering  of 
all  nations  about  Jerusalem,  where  the  judgment 
takes  j)lace  which  is  described  in  Matt.  xxv.  31-46. 
'^  The  Lord  also  shall  roar  out  of  Zion,  and  utter 
his  voice  from  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  heavens  and  the 
earih  shall  shake  :  but  the  Lord  will  be  the  hope 
of  his  people,  and  the  strength  of  the  children  of 
Israel."  Their  enemies  will  be  overthrown,  but 
amid  the  tokens  of  supernatural  fertility,  "  Judah 
shall  dwell  forever,  and  Jerusalem  from  generation 
to  generation.'^ 

AMOS. 

This  prophet,  whose  name  means  ^^  Bearer  of 
burden,"  was  contemj)orary  with  Isaiah  and  Hosea. 
But,  unlike  the  latter,  his  burden  was  borne  on 
account  of  both  Judah  and  Israel,  and  also  sur- 
rounding Gentile  nations.  All  that  is  known  of 
his  life  we  gather  from  his  own  words  to  Amaziah, 
a  worldly  priest  who  urged  him  not  to  deliver  his 
unpopular  messages  at  Bethel,  the  king's  chapel, 
and  the  king's  court :  "  I  was  no  prophet,  neither 
was  I  a  i)rox)het's  son  :  but  I  was  an  herdman,  and 
a  gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit :  and  the  Lord  took 
me  as  I  followed  the  flock,  and  the  Lord  said  unto 

4 


50  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

me,  Go,  prophecy  unto  my  people   Israel,'^  (vii. 
14,  15). 

The  Holy  Ghost  through  this  humble  man  first 
announces  a  series  of  .rulgmen's  upon  seven 
nations,  the  Syrians,  Philistines,  the  kingdom  of 
Tyre,  the  Edomites,  Ammonites,  Moabites,  and 
then  God's  own  people,  i.,  ii.  This  is  followed  by 
three  searching  addresses,  each  beginning  with  the 
summons,  "  Hear  this  word."  The  first  reminds 
his  countrymen  of  their  peculiar  privileges,  as  con- 
stituting the  only  people  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  God  had  known ;  but  this  brought  with  it 
peculiar  responsibilities  :  "  Therefore  I  will  pun- 
ish you  for  all  your  iniquities,"  iii.  The  second 
address  mentions  their  iniquities,  especial!  v  the 
mockery  of  their  formal  services  at  Bethel  and 
Gilgal,  as  having  brought  upon  them  the  rod  of 
punishment,  iv.  The  third  address,  after  an 
earnest  exhortation  to  turn  unto  the  Lord,  predicts 
the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  and  their  captivity, 
v.,  vi. 

This  is  succeeded  by  a  series  of  five  visions,  the 
grasshoppers,  the  devouring  fire,  and  the  Lord 
standing  upon  a  wall  with  a  plumb-line  in  Ilis 
hand,  like  the  law  of  God,  showing  how  i ir  they 
were  from  rectitude.  The  judgments  thus  typified 
were  executed  in  the  in^iasions  of  Pul,  Tiglath- 
pileser,  and  Shalmaneser,  the  last  of  whom  carried 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  51 

away  the  ten  tribes,  and  they  have  not  returned  to 
this  day.  Then  came  the  basket  of  summer  fruits, 
f5howiug  that  Israel  was  ripe  for  the  threatened 
infliction,  and  ready  to  fall ;  and  finally  the  Lord 
was  seen  standing  upon  the  altar,  to  give  the 
stroke  of  destruction  with  His  own  hand,  and  to 
scatter  it  to  the  winds,  vii.-ix.  1-10. 

Yet  in  the  end  grace  triumphs,  as  set  forth  by 
all  the  prophets,  audit  will  be  gloriously  displayed, 
when  Christ  comes  a  second  time.  "  Behold,  the 
days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  the  plowman  shall 
overtake  the  reaper,  and  the  treader  of  grapes  him 
that  soweth  seed ;  and  the  mountains  shall  drop 
sweet  wine,  and  all  the  hills  shall  melt.  And  I 
will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  my  people  Israel, 
and  they  shall  build  the  waste  cities,  and  inhabit 
til  em  •  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  drink  the 
wine  thereof;  they  shall  also  make  gardens,  and 
eat  the  fruit  of  them.  And  I  will  j^lant  them  upon 
their  land,  and  they  shall  no  more  be  pulled  up  out 
of  their  land  which  I  have  given  them,  saith  the 
Lord  thy  God,"  ix.  11-15.  The  Apostle  James 
quotes  a  part  of  this  passage,  and  reveals  the 
divine  i:)urpose  in  lauguage  it  seems  difficult  to 
misunderstand.  God  is  now  visiting  the  Gentiles 
^' to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  his  name.'^ 
After  this  is  accomplished,  not  the  conversion  of  all 
the  Gentiles,  but  only  the  gathering  out  of  an  elect 


52  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

number,  Christ  will  return,  and  "  build  again  tltie 
tabernacle  of  David,  which  is  fallen  down,"  restor- 
ing Israel  to  their  land,  "  that  the  residue  of  men 
might  seek  after  the  Lord,  and  all  the  Gentiles," 
(Acts  XV.  14-17). 

OBADIAH. 

We  know  not  the  time  of  this  prophet,  whose 
name  means  "  Servant  of  the  Lord,"  but  it  is 
probable  that  he  was  among  the  earliest  called  to 
the  prophetic  office.  His  book  is  the  briefest  mes- 
sage that  was  delivered,  and  yet  it  is  exceedingly 
important,  as  it  predicts  the  doom  of  theEdomites. 
These  were  the  descendants  "  of  Esau,  who  is 
Edom,"  (Gen.  xxxvi.  1),  the  twin  brother  of  Jacob, 
and  the  type  of  the  unchangeable  hostility  of  the 
flesh  to  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit.  Although 
their  name  and  identity  are  lost  at  present  among 
some  of  the  existing  nations,  God  will  search  them 
out  in  the  last  days ;  and  it  is  aj^parent  that  a  more 
terrible  destruction  awaits  them  thea,  than  that 
which  has  overtaken  them  in  the  past. 

The  prophet  announces  that  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  will  drag  them  from  their  munitions  of  rocks, 
though  they  exalt  themselves  as  eagles,  and  set 
their  nest  among  the  stars,  for  their  treatment  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  day  of  its  calamity  and  sorrow. 
This  shows  that  whosoever  touches  His   people 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  53 

touches  the  apple  of  His  eye,  and  will  be  remembered 
in  the  day  of  the  Lord  that  is  near  upon  all 
the  heathen,  (vs.  15).  "  But  upon  mount  Zion 
shall  be  deliverance,  and  there  shall  be  holiness ; 
and  the  house  of  Jacob  shall  possess  their  posses- 
sions. '.  .  .  And  saviours  shall  come  up  on 
mount  Zion  to  judge  the  mount  of  Esau  5  and  the 
kingdom  shall  be  the  Lord's.'' 

Thus  the  book,  however  short,  reaches  on  like 
all  prophecy  to  the  second  advent  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  like  all  prophecy  promises  both  spirit- 
ual and  national  recovery  and  restoration  to  the 
now  scattered  children  of  Jacob.  It  is  a  book  that 
should  be  studied  in  connection  with  the  following 
scriptures  :  Num.  xx.  14-22  ;  xxiv.  17-19  ;  Ps.  Ix. 
8-12;  cxxxvii.  7;  Isa.  xi.  11-14;  Isa.  xxxiv;  Jer. 
xlix.  7-22 ;  Ezek.  xxxv. 

JONAH. 

Jonah,  whose  name  means  "  dove,"  was  one  of 
the  earliest  prophets,  for  we  find  that  a  prediction 
he  uttered  was  fulfilled  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam 
II,  about  eight  hundred  years  B.  C,  (2  Kings  xiv. 
25).  It  is  blessed  to  know  that  the  affecting  and 
significant  story  of  his  ministry,  which  shallow  and 
impudent  infidelity  has  always  ridiculed,  has 
received  the  full  endorsement  of  the  Lord  Jesus 


54  BOOKS    OF   THE   BIBLE, 

Christ,  and  is  thus  linked  forever  with  His 
veracity,  (Matt.  xii.  39-41).  Any  one  taught  of 
the  Spirit  can  readily  see  that  the  object  of  the 
devil  in  calling  forth  a  sneer  of  incredulity  at  the 
resurrection  of  Jonah,  is  to  lead  men  to  reject  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus,  for  it  is  no  more  difficult  to 
believe  the  one  than  the  other.  Science  has  shown 
that  "  a  great  fish,"  the  true  shark,  exists  in  the 
Mediterranean ;  and  upon  human  testimony  the 
statement  Avill  be  accepted  that  in  some  of  these 
fish,  fully  a  dozen  undigested  tunny-fish,  weighing 
400  pounds,  have  been  found ;  that  in  one  of  them 
an  entire  horse  was  found,  having  an  estimated 
weight  of  1500  i)Ounds  j  that  from  another  a  sailor, 
who  had  been  swallowed,  was  rescued  alive,  (Keil 
and  Delitzsch,  vol.  i.  p.  398).  Yet  when  God 
speaks.  He  only  is  to  be  treated  as  a  liar.  But 
such  is  man. 

The  desperate  wickedness  of  the  human  heart  is 
again  illustrated  by  the  conduct  of  Jonah  himself, 
who  flew  in  the  face  of  God's  command  when  it 
crossed  his  wishes,  who  would  rather  resign  his 
prophetic  office  than  mortify  the  flesh,  who  i)roudly 
refused  to  submit  his  reason  and  will  to  the  divine 
pleasure.  He  knevr  something  of  the  Lord's  loving 
heart,  and  he  was  afraid  that  if  he  preached  to 
Nineveh,  the  people  might  repent,  and  then  be 
spared  to  lay  waste  his  beloved  land  of  Israel, 


BOOKS    OF   THE  BIBI.E.  OO 

(2  Kings  xvii.  1-23).  As  a  loyalJew,  therefore,  he 
was  determined  not  to  proceed  upon  a  mission  of 
warning  and  perhaps  of  mercy  to  the  hated  enemies 
of  his  country ;  and  when  the  Lord  told  him  to  go 
to  Nineveh,  he  fled  in  the  opposite  direction,  taking 
a  ship  that  was  sailing  to  Spain.  But  the  Lord 
sent  out  a  great  wind  into  the  sea,  and  tbe  unfaith- 
ful servant  was  startled  from  the  guilty  insensi- 
bility of  spiritual  slumber  by  the  piercing  call  of 
the  terrified  ship  master,  '-  What  meanest  thou,'  O 
sleeper?  Arise,  call  uj)on  thy  God.'^  Over- 
whelmed with  a  sense  of  his  sin,  he  took  the  i:)lace 
of  death  and  judgment,  and  at  his  own  request  was 
cast  into  the  temi^estuous  sea,  (chai^.  i.). 

"  Then  Jonah  x)rayed  unto  the  Lord  his  God  out 
of  the  fish's  belly."  How  helpless  he  was,  and 
how  humiliating  to  find  a  prophet  of  Israel  borne 
to  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains,  the  weeds 
wrapped  about  his  head,  and  the  bars  of  the  earth 
caging  him  !  But  his  prayers,  and  quotation  from 
the  Psalms,  and  vows,  did  him  no  good,  until  he 
cried  from  the  heart,  ''  Salvation  is  of  the  Lord." 
The  moment  he  got  to  that  in  his  experience, 
''  the  Lord  spake  unto  the  fish,  and  it  vomited  out 
Jonah  upon  the  dry  land,"  (chap.  ii.). 

Obedient  at  last,  the  prophet  who  had  thoroughly 
learned  the  lesson  of  submission  went  to  Nineveh, 
and  delivered  the  message  he  was  sent  to  communi- 


56  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

cate  to  the  mighty  capital  of  Assyria.  "  So  the 
people  of  Kineveh  believed  God."  They  believed 
God,  and  then  they  repented,  and  proclaimed  a 
fast,  and  covered  themselves  with  sackcloth,  both 
man  and  beast,  and  cried  mightily  unto  God.  It 
was  enough.  "  Is  he  the  God  of  the  Jews  only,  is 
he  not  also  of  the  Gentiles  ?  Yes,  of  the  Gentiles 
also,"  (Rom.  iii.  29).  God  turned  from  His  fierce 
anger,  and  I^Tineveh  was  spared,  though  He  knew 
the  same  city  would  be  the  rod  in  His  hand  to 
afflict  Israel,  (chap.  iii.). 

It  is  deeply  humbling  and  searching  to  our  souls 
to  find  that  the  man  of  God  was  exceedingly  dis- 
X)leased  and  grieved  by  the  divine  forbearance  and 
patience.  He  had  cried,  "  Yet  forty  days,  and 
Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown  ;"  and  the  city  still 
remained.  Eegard  for  his  own  reputation  made 
him  angry,  and  he  would  rather  witness  the  de- 
struction of  all  the  Assyrians  than  to  see  himself 
dishonored.  The  flesh  in  a  i)rophet  is  no  better 
than  the  flesh  in  a  heathen,  and  in  a  Christian  it 
will  lift  up  its  horrid  and  disgusting  head,  unless 
constantly  kept  down  by  the  Spirit.  But  Goc] 
taught  His  poor,  foolish  servant  a  wonderful  trutL 
by  the  gourd  5  and  the  book  closes  abruptly,  leav- 
ing Jonah  disgraced,  as  it  were,  forced  to  commit 
his  reputation  to  the  keeping  of  Jehovah.  It  is 
comforting    to    notice    that    everything    in    this 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  i>7 

remarkable  scripture  is  of  God.  It  was  He  who 
sent  out  the  wind,  who  prei^ared  the  fish,  who  pre- 
pared the  gourd,  who  j)repared  the  worm.  It  is 
precious  too  to  observe  that  He  counted  the  little 
children  in  Nineveh,  more  than  120,000,  and  also 
much  cattle,  (chap.  v.). 

MICAH. 

Micah,  meaning  "Who  is  like  the  Lord?"  was 
contemi)orary  in  part  at  least  with  Isaiah,  as  we 
learn  from  the  first  verse  of  his  prophecy,  which 
consists  of  seven  chapters.  First,  the  rapidly 
apx>roaching  doom  of  Samaria,  the  capital  of  the 
ten  tribes,  by  the  Assyrians,  is  announced,  (i.). 
Second,  the  cause  of  the  overthrow  is  to  be  traced 
to  the  covetousness  and  worldliness  of  God's  once 
highly  favored  people,  (ii.).  Third,  the  princes  ard 
the  1)01) ular  preachers  come  in  for  a  share  in  the  re- 
buke, and  for  their  sakes  Jerusalem  also  is  to  be- 
come heaps,  and  beautiful  Zion  plowed  as  a  field, 
(iii.).  Fourth,  mercy  rejoiceth  against  judgment, 
and  when  the  Son  of  God  appears,  Jerusalem  shall 
shine  in  glory,  and  Zion  be  the  meeting  place  for 
the  happy  millennial  nations,  (iv.).  Fifth,  the  i^lace 
of  His  birth  is  pointed  out,  and  He  is  to  be  the  peace 
of  His  peoi)le,  delivering  from  the  Assyrian  of  the 
last  days,  and  making  the  remnant  of  Jacob  as  a 


58  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

young  lion  among  the  Gentiles,  (v.).  Sixth,  the 
tender  i^leading  and  solemn  upbraiding  of  Jehovah 
follow,  warning  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  must 
suffer  for  their  iniquities,  (vi.).  Seventh,  in  the 
midst  of  His  rebuke  and  indignation,  the  hope  of 
the  Lord's  coming  glitters  like  a  star  in  a  dark  sky, 
and  the  prophecy  closes  with  a  burst  of  joy  in  the 
anticipation  of  the  bright  day,  when  God  will  cast 
all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea,  (vii.). 

NAHUM. 

The  name  of  this  i)rophet  means  "  Comfort,  or 
consolation,"  and  he  reminds  us  of  i^oah,  also 
meaning  "  Rest  or  comfort.'^  He  is  the  seventh 
chronologically  of  the  Minor  Prophets,  the  date 
of  his  ministry  falling  under  the  reign  of  Hezekiah, 
about  150  years  after  Jonah.  "The  burden  of 
Nineveh"  was  laid  upon  his  heart,  and  he  fore- 
tells in  graphic  style  the  utter  desolation  of  that 
proud  oppressor  of  God's  people.  The  preaching 
of  Jonah  had  led  to  repentance  and  to  temporary 
reformation;  but  "because  sentence  against  an 
evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore  the 
heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  to  do 
evil,"  (Ecc.  viii.  11). 

The  very  manner  of  its  destruction  is  minutely 
described,  for  it  is  said,  "  with  an  overrunning  flood 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 


5i> 


he  will  make  an  utter  end  of  the  place  thereof,  and 
darkness  shall  pursue  his  enemies,''  (i.  8) ;  "  the 
gates  of  the  rivers  shall  be  opened,  and  th'e  x^alace 
shall  be  dissolved,"  or,  as  it  is  in  the  margin, 
"molten."  It  was  besieged  by  the  Medes  and 
Babylonians,  and  Diodorus  Siculus  says,  "  There 
was  an  old  prophecy,  that  Kineveh  should  not  be 
taken  till  the  river  became  an  enemy  to  the  city. 
And  in  the  third  year  of  the  siege,  the  river  being 
swollen  with  continual  rains,  overflowed  every  i)art 
of  the  city,  and  broke  down  the  wall  for  twenty 
furlongs ;  then  the  king,  thinking  that  the  oracle 
was  fulfilled,  and  the  river  become  an  enemy  to  the 
city,  built  a  large  funeral  i)ile  in  the  j)alace,  and, 
collecting  together  all  his  wealth  and  his  concu- 
bines and  eunuchs,  burnt  himself  and  the  palace 
with  them  all ;  and  the  enemy  entered  at  the  breach 
that  the  waters  had  made,  and  took  the  city."  The 
recent  discoveries  of  Layard  and  Eawlinson,  bring- 
ing to  light  a  buried  city  of  whose  very  existence 
ancient  historians  seemed  to  be  almost  ignorant, 
show  how  accurate  were  Jonah  and  Nahum  in  their 
reference  to  its  extent  and  magnificence,  although 
of  course  the  word  of  God  does  not  need  to  be 
confirmed  by  human  testimony. 

Bnt  if  the  latter  prophet  was  burdened  with  the 
doom  of  the  mighty  city,  the  type  o;.'  this  world, 
and  of  the  enemies  of  God's  elect,  and  especially 


GO  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  Assyrian  of  the  last  days,  he  can  not  close 
without  a  word  of  consolation  to  the  redeemed  of 
the  Lord :  "  Though  I  have  afflicted  thee,  I  will 
afflict  thee  no  more.  .  .  .  Behold,  upon  the 
mountains  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tid- 
ings, that  publisheth  peace  !  O  Judah,  keep  thy 
solemn  feasts,  perform  thy  vows :  for  the  wicked 
shall  no  more  pass  through  thee;  he  is  utterly  cut 
off."  Thus  Kahum,  like  all  the  prophetSr  reaches 
on  to  the  end  of  the  present  dispensation, 

HABAKKUK. 

His  parentage,  birth  J)lace,  and  date  of  jhis  min- 
istry, are  unrecorded,  but  from  certain  internal  evi- 
dences it  is  probable  that  he  lived  in  the  days  of 
Josiah,  the  last  king  of  Judah  who  observed  the 
passover,  and  strove  to  purify  the  enemies  of  the 
temple.  As  Nahum  had  to  bear  the  burden  of 
Nineveh,  so  Habakkuk  was  called  to  bear  the  burden 
of  God's  people  in  connection  with  the  Chaldeans 
who  were  to  be  used  for  the  punishment  of  Judea, 
and  then  be  overthrown  for  their  own  iniquities. 
His  name  means  ''  Embracing,"  or,  according  to  Dr. 
Young,  ^'  Love's  embrace,"  and  it  is  sweet  io  notice 
that  amid  the  gathering  judgments  that  we  ^e  about 
to  burst  upon  his  country,  he  was  safe  ir  the  em- 
brace of  infinite  Love. 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  61 

His  prophecy  consists  of  three  chapters.  The 
nrst,  announcing  the  coming  of  the  Chaldeans,  con- 
tains earnest  expostulations  and  entreaties,  that 
God  would  spare  his  people  and  visit  their  enemies. 
The  second  shows  the  i)rophet  on  his  watch  tower, 
patiently  waiting  to  hear  what  the  Lord  would  say 
unto  him.  He  is  informed  that  the  vision  is  for  an 
appointed  time,  ''^  but  at  the  end  it  shall  speak,  and 
not  lie :  though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it,  because  it  will 
surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry .'^  Thus  it  looks  to 
the  close  of  the  present  dispensation,  and  while 
the  world  is  ripening  for  judgment,  the  saint  must 
live  by  faith.  Then  follow  four  woes  uj^on  Baby- 
lon as  the  symbol  of  the  world's  evil,  but  in  the 
midst  of  it  all,  the  promise  breaks  in  like  sunshine 
through  the  storm,  "  The  earth  shall  be  filled  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea." 

Hence  in  the  third  chapter  we  have  a  prayer  and" 
song  in  the  sublimest  strains,  covering  the  whole 
history  of  God's  dealings  with  Israel,  and  closing 
with  the  exulting  confidence  of  faith  :  ^'Although 
the  fig  tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be 
in  the  vines;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and 
the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be 
cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in 
the  stalls  :  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy 
in  the  God  of  my  salvation." 


62  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 


ZEPHANIAH, 


The  meaning  of  Iiis  name  is  "  Hid  of  the  Lord,^' 
or,  as  Young  gives  it,  '•  Jah  is  darkness.'^  He 
delivered  his  prophecy  in  the  days  of  Josiah,  and 
it  shows  that  the  "  revival  '^  brought  about  by  that 
pious  king  was  of  brief  duration.  The  iniquity  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  weighed 
very  heavily  upon  his  heart,  as  it  did  upon  the 
heart  of  his  contemporary  Jeremiah,  and  it  was 
waxing  worse  aud  worse.  At  last  the  people 
reached  the  place  of  practical  atheism  to  which  the 
world  of  culture  and  science  has  come  in  these 
days,  when  they  said,  *'  The  Lord  will  not  do  good, 
neither  will  he  do  evil."  After  this  nothing  re- 
mains but  "  the  great  day  of  the  Lord  j  .  .  . 
a  day  of  wrath,  a  day  of  trouble  and  distress, 
a  day  of  wasteness  and  desolation,  a  day  of  dark- 
ness and  gloominess,  a  day  of  clouds  and  thick 
darkness.'^ 

But  if  His  professed  people  are  to  be  righteously 
chastened,  the  nations  of  the  world  will  be  terribly 
punished,  as  set  forth  in  the  second  chai^ter. 
*'  The  Lord  will  be  terrible  unto  them  :  for  he  will 
famish  all  the  gods  of  the  earth ;  and  men  shall 
worship  him,  every  one  from  his  place,  even  all  the 
isles  of  the  heathen."  As  in  Habakkuk,  so  here 
it  is  written,  *'  Therefore  wait  ye  upon  me,  saith 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  63 

the  Lord,  until  the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey ; 
for  my  determination  is  to  gather  the  nations,  that 
I  may  assemble  the  kingdoms,  to  pour  upon  them 
mine  indignation,  even  all  my  fierce  anger :  for  all 
the  earth  shall  be  devoured  with  the  fire  of  my 
jealousy.'^ 

But  while  judgments  sweep  the  defiled  scene 
according  to  the  testimony  of  all  the  scriptures,  a 
remnant  will  be  spared,  described  as  "  an  afflicted 
and  poor  people,  and  they  shall  trust  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord."  These  will  form  the  nucleus  of  a 
saved  and  restored  people  at  the  coming  of  Christ, 
and  hence  the  prophecy  ends  with  beautiful  strains 
of  i^romise.  "  Sing,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ;  shout,  O 
Israel;  be  glad  and  rejoice  with  all  the  heart,  O 
daughter  of  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  The  Lord  thy 
God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is  mighty ;  he  will  save, 
he  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy;  he  will  rest  in 
his  love  ;  he  will  joy  over  thee  with  singing.  .  .  . 
Behold,  at  that  time  I  will  undo  all  that  afflict 
thee;  and  I  will  save  her  that  halteth,  and  gather 
her  that  was  driven  out ;  and  I  will  get  them  praise 
and  fame  in  every  land  where  they  have  been  put 
to  shame.  At  that  time  I  will  bring  you  again, 
even  in  the  time  that  I  gather  you :  for  I  will  make 
you  a  name  and  a  praise  among  all  i^eople  of  the 
earth;  when  I  turn  back  your  caj)tivity  before 
your  eyes,  saith  the  Lord.'^ 


64  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 


HAGaAI. 


This  prophet,  whose  name  means  ^'  Festive," 
Or  "Festival  of  the  Lord,"  is  the  first  of  the 
three  who  were  called  to  the  prophetic  office  after 
the  captivity.  He  is  mentioned  in  Ezra  v.  1  j  vi. 
14 ;  and  his  ministry  had  much  to  do  with  the 
rebuilding  of  the  temple,  and  with  the  religious- 
condition  of  the  remnant  of  Judah,  that  had  been 
permitted  by  their  Gentile  masters  to  return  to 
their  land.  His  style  is  homely,  as  the  critics  say, 
but  for  all  this  we  read,  "  Then  spake  Haggai,  the 
Lord's  messenger,  in  the  Lord's  message  unto  the 
people."  He  is  the  first  of  the  i^rophets  who  is 
called  Jehovah's  messenger,  and  God  put  high 
honor  upon  him,  notwithstanding  the  plainness 
and  simi)licity  of  his  language, 

His  prophecy  consists  of  five  parts  :  First,  His 
message  delivered  to  the  people  through  Zerub- 
babel  their  civil  ruler,  and  Joshua  their  high  x)riest, 
arousing  them  to  build  the  temple,  which  they  had 
shamefully  neglected,  "while  attending  to  their  own 
affairs,  i.  1-11.  Second,  the  effect  produced  by  his 
stirring  summons,  as  seen  in  the  fact  that  within 
three  weeks,  the  rubbish  was  cleared  away,  the 
materials  collected,  and  the  workmen  were  on  the 
walls,  i.  12-15 ;  Ezra  v.,  vi.  Third,  they  did  not  wait 
for  the  decree  of  the  king ;  but  their  enthusiasm 


"BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  GJ 

soon  cooled,  and  hence  Jehovah's  messenger  ad-. 
dresses  them  again  with  a  word  of  cheer,  that 
reaches  on  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  "I 
will  shake  all  nations,  and  the  desire  of  all  nations 
shall  come ;"  or  as  the  Septuagint  has  it,  '^  the 
choice  things  of  all  the  nations  shall  come ;"  or  as 
Hengstenburg  says,  "  the  beauty  of  all  the 
heathen  ;"  or  as  Ewald  translates,  "  the  loveliest 
of  all  people."  However  this  may  be,  we  know 
that  the  time  stretches  forward  to  the  glorious 
advent  of  our  Lord,  for  the  Holy  Ghost  so  declares 
in  Heb.  xii.  27.  "  The  glory  of  this  latter  house," 
or  rather,  *'the  latter  glory  of  this  house  shall  be 
greater  than  the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  j" 
and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  identity  of 
the  house  is  preserved  to  the  end,  ii.  1-9.  Fourth, 
another  message  is  delivered,  setting  forth  the 
moral  condition  of  the  Jews,  answering  to  the  sad 
state  of  things  in  these  last  days,  ii.  10-19.  Fifth, 
the  closing  message  again  announces  the  shaking 
of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  the  overthrow 
of  all  kingdoms  before  the  coming  and  crowning  of 
Christ,  of  whom  Zerubbabel  is  used  as  a  type  in 
his  princely  office.  "  Speak  to  Zerubbabel,  gov- 
ernor of  Judah,  saying,  I  will  shake  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  j  and  I  will  overthrow  the  throne 
of  the  kingdoms,  and  I  will  destroy  the  strength 
of  the  kingdoms  of  the  nations,"  ii.  20-23. 


66  BOOK^   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

ZECHARIAH. 

This  prophet  was  contemj)orary  with  Haggai, 
both  of  them  following  Zei^haniah  by  an  interval 
of  at  least  an  hundred  years.  His  name,  meaning 
"  Eemembered  of  the  Lord,"  or  as  Dr.  Young  says, 
"  Jah  is  renowned,"  occurs  in  connection  with  that 
of  Haggai  in  the  book  of  Ezra.  But  while  the 
former  i^roj^het  was  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
temple  and  the  religious  state  of  God's  ancient 
peoiDle,  the  latter  takes  a  broader  view,  unfolding 
the  future  of  Israel  and  of  Gentile  nations  down  to 
the  coming  and  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  reaching  on  into  millennial  days. 

The  first  six  chapters  contain  a  series  of  visions, 
all  seen  in  one  night  in  the  second  year  of  Darius. 
(i)  The  vision  of  four  horses  among  the  myrtle 
trees,  God's  providential  agencies,  and  representa- 
tives of  the  Gentiles,  that  found  the  whole  earth  at 
rest  under  Gentile  dominion.  But  this  aroused  the 
jealousy  of  Jehovah  for  His  despised  j^eople,  and 
led  to  the  x^romise,  "  the  Lord  shall  yet  comfort 
Zion,  and  shall  yet  choose  Jerusalem." 

(2)  The  vision  of  the  four  horns  and  four  carpen- 
ters, the  horns  the  symbols  of  power,  and  the  car- 
I)enter8  the  symbols  of  still  greater  power  that 
shall  in  due  time  fray  the  four  great  Gentile  powers, 
to  whom  dominion  passed  after  Israel  was  set  aside. 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 


67 


(3)  The  visioa  of  the  measuring  line,  indicating 
the  vastness  and  magnificence  of  Jerusalem ;  but  it 
is  .expressly  said  it  shall  be  "  after  the  glory, '^  or, 
in  other  words,  after  the  personal  return  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  the  earth.  *'And  many  nations 
shall  be  joined  to  the  Lord  in  that  day,  and  shall 
be  my  people." 

(4)  But  the  sin  of  Judah  must  be  dealt  with  in 
grace  before  the  glory,  and  hence  we  have  the 
vision  of  Joshua  the  high  priest  standing  before 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  in  filthy  garments.  The 
vision  furnishes  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pictures 
of  God's  way  of  justifying  and  saving  the  sinner, 
found  in  all  the  Bible. 

(5)  This  is  appropriately  followed  by  the  vision 
of  the  golden  candlestick  or  lamp  stand,  setting 
forth  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  behalf  of  the 
justified  ones,  and  j) resenting  Joshua  and  Zerub- 
babel  as  types  of  Christ  in  his  priestly  and  kingly 
ofiices. 

(6)  But  they  must  be  dealt  with  in  righteousness 
too,  and  this  is  exhibited  in  the  vision  of  the  flying 
roll  and  the  woman  in  the  epha,  telling  of  wicked- 
ness preceding  the  day  of  the  Lord's  coming,  and 
judgment  on  the  track  of  wickedness.  The  whole 
scene  answers  to  the  woman  hiding'  leaven  in  the 
three  measures  of  meal,  leading  on  to  the  Babylon 
and  antichrist  of  the  last  days. 


68  BOOKS   OF   THli  BIBLE. 

(7)  Then  comes  the  vision  of  the  four  chariots, 
or  the  overthrow  of  the  entire  Gentile  dominion, 
succeeded  by  the  appearance  of  The  Branch. 
"  Even  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord;  and 
he  shall  bear  the  glory,  and  shall  sit  and  rule  upon 
his  throne;  and  he  shall  be  a  priest  upan  his 
throne  :  and  the  counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between 
them  both,'^  that  is,  between  Jehovah  and  the 
reigning  priest,  i.-vi. 

The  rest  of  the  book  is  divided  into  six  parts. 
(1)  In  the  fourth  year  of  Darius  a  message  is  deliv- 
ered, searching  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  God's 
l>eoi)le  with  a  lighted  candle,  but  promising  divine 
deliverance  and  complete  restoration  to  the  house 
of  Judah  and  the  house  of  Israel.  "  In  those  days 
it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten  men  shall  take  hold, 
out  of  all  languages  of  the  nations,  even  shall  take 
hold  of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying,  We 
will  go  with  you  ;  for  we  have  heard  that  God  is 
with  you."  If  a  Jew  does  not  mean  a  Jew,  what 
does  it  mean  ?  vii.,  viii. 

(2)  The  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  fell  upon 
the  prophet  with  regard  to  surrounding  nations ; 
and  he  describes  the  victorious  progress  of  the 
great  king  of  Macedon,  sparing  Jerusalem,  because 
the  Lord  had  encamped  about  His  house.  But  the 
Jews  were  to  be  scattered  for  their  sins,  and  then 
brought  back.     *'  I    will    sow    them    among    the 


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people  ;  and  they  shall  remember  me  in  far  coun- 
tries :  and  they  shall  live  with  their  children,  and 
turn  again.  .  .  .  And  I  will  strengthen  them 
in  the  Lord ;  and  they  shall  walk  up  and  down  in 
his  name,  saith  the  Lord,"  ix.  10. 

(3)  Then  we  have  an  account  of  the  good  Shep- 
herd and  the  idol  shepherd,  the  Christ  and  the 
antichrist,  leading  us  forward  to  the  close  of  the 
present  dispensation,  xi. 

(4)  Judah  and  Jerusalem  in  the  midst  of  conflict 
shall  at  last  accei)t  their  rejected  Messiah,  only 
when  they  shall  looTc  upon  Him,  and  there  shall  be 
a  great  national  mourning  in  view  of  their  blind- 
ness and  unbelief  for  more  than  eighteen  hundred 
years,  every  family  mourning  ai)art  in  bitterness 
of  soul,  xii. 

(5)  "  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened 
to  the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness."  This  is 
not  a  "  fountain  filled  with  blood,'^  as  we  often 
sing,  for  the  moment  they  see  Jesus  as  Lord,  as 
the  man  that  is  God's  fellow,  smitten  for  trans- 
gression, they  have  pardon.  But  it  is  the  washing 
with  water  by  the  word,  xiii. 

(6)  Last  of  all  comes  glorious  deliverance,  when 
all  nations  shall  be  gathered  against  Jerusalem  to 
battle,  and  His  feet  shall  stand  in  that  day  upon 
the  mount  of  Olives,  which  is  before  Jerusalem  on 


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the  east,  and  the  Lord  our  God  shall  come,  and  all 
the  saints  with  Him.  ^'And  the  Lord  shall  be  king 
over  all  the  earth,"  His  ''  Peace,  be  still,'^  falling  in 
sweetest  accents  upon  the  storms  of  a  troubled 
world,  xiv. 

MALACHI. 

The  last  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  whose 
name  means  *'  the  messenger  of  the  Lord,"  deals 
with  the  sad  spiritual  state  of  Israel,  succeeding 
the  days  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  which  cor- 
responds precisely  with  the  state  of  the  professing 
body  at  the  close  of  the  present  age.  Man,  where- 
ever  placed  and  however  tried,  is  a  wretched  fail- 
ure, and  will  be  till  Jesus  comes.  The  mass  of  the 
l)eople  in  the  time  of*  Malachi  were  "lovers  of 
pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having  a  form 
of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof.'^ 
They  kept  uj)  their  religious  ceremonies,  but 
brought  to  God  for  sacrifice  the  torn,  and  the  lame, 
and  the  sick,  while  they  were  over-reaching  each 
other  in  money  making,  and  procuring  divorces  ta 
indulge  their  lusts. 

Seven  times  they  ask  the  insolent  question, 
"  Wherein  hast  thou  loved  us  ?"  "  Wherein  have 
we  despised  thy  name  ?"  "  Wherein  have  we  pol- 
luted thee  ?"  "  Wherein  have  we  wearied  thee  ?" 
"  Wherein  shall  we  return  f     "  Wherein  have  we 


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71 


robbed  thee  V^  "  What  have  we  spoken  against 
thee !"  Truly  might  God  say,  "  I  am  the  Lord,  I 
change  not ;  therefore  ye  sons  of  Jacob  are  not  con- 
sumed." But  in  the  midst  of  the  em^^ty  i^rofession 
there  was  a  little  remnant,  that  feared  the  Lord, 
and  spake  often  one  to  another ;  and  the  Lord 
hearkened,  and  heard  with  delight  their  prayers 
and  conversation.  Yea,  their  very  thoughts  of 
Him  He  put  down  in  His  book,  as  He  -puis  the 
tears  of  the  saints  in  His  bottle,  and  their  prayers 
in  His  vial.  Twenty-five  times  in  four  short  chaj)- 
ters  do  we  find  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  as  if  the 
people  then,  like  many  professed  Christians  now, 
were  losing  all  faith  in  verbal  inspiration. 

First,  God  rei)roaches  them  for  their  formal  ser- 
vice, and  their  want  of  filial  afi"ection  and  loyalty 
and  devotedness  to  Himself,  i.  Second,  He  up- 
braids them  for  the  hypocrisy  and  time-serving 
spirit  of  their  priests,  for  their  sharp  dealing  with 
each  other,  and  for  the  prevalence  of  divorces,  ii. 
Third,  He  tells  them  that  Christ  will  suddenly 
come,  and  then  there  will  be  an  awful  reckoning 
with  adulterers,  and  false  swearers,  and  those  that 
defraud  the  hireling  of  his  wages,  and  those  that 
rob  God  of  tithes  and  offerings,  and  those  that  said 
in  their  hearts,  *'  It  is  vain  to  serve  God,''  iii. 
Fourth,  The  day  is  coming  when  the  proud  and  the 
wicked  shall  be  as  stubble,  but  to  those  that  fear 


72  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

His  name,  the  appearing  of  Christ  will  be  as  the 
Sun  of  righteousness.  It  is  an  appearing  that  will 
be  ushered  in  by  the  ministry  of  Elijah  *'  before  the 
coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord  j" 
and  in  view  of  the  melancholy  record  from  Genesis 
onward,  the  Old  Testament  most  appropriately 
closes  with  the  word  curse. 

MATTHEW. 

The  best  way  to  study  this  book  is  to  compare 
carefully  the  facts  it  records  with  the  same  facts, 
as  recorded  in  the  other  gospels.  No  one  who 
does  this  with  spiritual  intelligence,  and  with 
honesty  of  purpose,  can  remain  in  doubt  concern- 
ing the  superhuman  origin  of  any  of  the  books,  or 
concerning  the  truth  of  verbal  inspiration.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  a  special  design 
in  each  of  the  four  gospels,  and  this  design  He 
keeps  constantly  in  view  even  in  the  smallest  i)ar- 
ticulars.  The  additions,  the  omissions,  the  so- 
called  discrepancies,  are  all  in  x)erfect  harmony 
with  the  object  He  had  before  Him  in  these  vari- 
ous accounts  of  the  life,  and  death,  and  resurrection 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  if  there  are  some 
things  we  do  not  understand,  it  will  be  modest  and 
becoming  to  confess  that  it  is  due  to  our  ignorance^ 
which  is  often  enlightened  by  patiently  waiting  at 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  73 

the  feet  of  the  Saviour,  rather  than  conclude  that 
the  Spirit  of  the  living  God  has  made  a  mistake. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  in  the  gospel  of 
Matthew,  Jesus  of  Kazareth  is  presented  as  the 
promised  king  of  Israel ;  in  Mark,  as  the  faithful 
Servant  who  has  set  us  the  example  of  prompt  and 
perfect  obedience  to  God's  will  j  in  Luke,  as  the 
Son  of  man  5  and  in  John,  as  the  Son  of  God.  It  is 
easy  to  perceive  also  that  Matthew  does  not  ob- 
serve any  chronological  order  in  his  narrative,  but 
ranges  over  the  whole  field  of  our  Lord's  ministry, 
in  order  to  call  out  and  group  together  the  facts 
and  incidents  that  illustrate  the  point  he  has  be- 
fore him.  That  point  is  to  reveal  Jesus  Christ  as 
the  Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  anointed 
king  of  the  Jews,  and  if  we  would  know  the  mean- 
ing of  the  book,  this  must  be  kept  before  the  mind 
in  every  chapter. 

Chapter  i.,  the  genealogy  of  the  king.  Chapter 
ii.,  the  birth  of  the  king.  Chapter  iii.,  the  baptism 
of  the  king.  Chapter  iv.,  the  temptation  of  the 
king.  Chapter  v.,  the  king  announces  the  laws, 
and  describes  the  subjects,  of  His  kingdom,  already 
anticipating  His  rejection  by  Israel.  Chaj^ter  vi., 
the  king  passes  from  actions  to  motives  and  prin- 
ciples, in  setting  forth  the  character  and  conduct 
becoming  those  who  belong  to  His  kingdom. 
Chapter  vii.,  the  king  shows  the  relation  of  His 


74  BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

subjects  to  each  other,  with  warnings  against  false 
prophets,  and  a  formal  profession  of  His  name. 
Chapter  viii.,  the  king's  presence  manifested  in 
grace  and  power  to  Israel.  Chapter  ix.,  effect  of 
the  king's  x:)resence  upon  the  leaders  in  Israel. 
Chapter  x.,  the  king's  messengers  to  Israel.  Chap- 
ter xi.,  the  king  utterly  rejected  by  Israel.  Chap- 
ter xii.,  Israel  rejected  by  the  king.  Chapter  xiii., 
the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom,  or  the  kingdom 
existing  in  concealment,  and  the  state  of  things 
during  the  present  age.  Chapter  xiv.,  the  king- 
dom revealed  in  type.  Chapter  xv.,  Israel  after 
the  rejection  of  the  king.  Chapter  xvi.,  the  church 
revealed,  occupying  the  interval  during  which  the 
kingdom  is  in  mystery.  Chapter  xvii.,  a  glimpse 
of  the  kingdom,  as  it  shall  be  at  the  close  of  the 
church  period.  Chapter  xviii.,  the  spirit  becoming 
those  who  are  waiting  for  the  kingdom.  Chapter 
xix.,  earthly  relationships  in  the  light  of  the  king- 
dom. Chapter  xx.,  sovereignty  of  the  king  in  the 
awards  of  the  kingdom,  and  service  the  test  of 
position.  Chapter  xxi.,  the  king  i^resents  Himself 
to  Israel  for  the  last  time.  Chapter  xxii.,  the  king 
appearing  in  grace,  but  despised.  Chapter  xxiii., 
the  king  pronounces  the  doom  of  apostate  Israel. 
Chapters  xxiv.,  xxv.,  the  king's  last  message  to 
His  disciples,  dwelling  at  length  upon  His  second 
advent.    Chapter  xxvi.,  the  king  betrayed,  forsaken, 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  '^ 

and  denied.  Chapter  xxvii.,  the  king  crucified. 
Chapter  xxviii.,  the  king  risen. 

It  is  in  this  gospel  we  find  the  phrase,  "  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,''  or  more  literally,  "  the  king- 
dom Ox  the  heavens."  It  occurs  thirty-two  times, 
and  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  word  Tcingdom  is  found  fifty-six  times  : 
and  although  the  expression,  "  the  kingdom  of 
God"  is  used  three  times,  there  is  an  obvious 
reason  for  the  change  in  the  language.  God's  king 
was  there  in  Israel,  but  being  denied  and  disowned, 
he  was  taken  up  into  the  heavens,  and  "  the  king- 
dom of  the  heavens  "  began  upon  His  ascension  to 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  Hence  the  phrase  is 
equivalent  to  the  present.  Christian  dispensation, 
during  which -Christ  from  the  heavens  is  exercising 
rule  in  an  especial  manner  over  that  part  of  the 
earth  in  which  His  gospel  is  proclaimed. 

But  if  the  gospel  is  rejected,  as  it  surely  is 
rejected  before  our  eyes  by  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  men  and  women  in  Christendom,  and 
as  the  Lord  assures  us  it  will  be  rejected  to  the 
end  of  the  age,  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  likened  to  that  which  is  eviL 
During  the  time  the  king  is  in  the  heavens,  and  not 
manifested  in  regal  glory  and  power  on  the  earth, 
He  tells  the  disciples  that  only  a  fourth  part  of  the 
seed  will  bring  forth  fruit,  and  this  variously ;  that 


76  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

the  tares  and  the  wheat  will  grow  together  until 
the  harvest  at  His  coming;  that,  although  the 
outward  growth  of  the  professing  body  will  be  like 
a  great  tree  springing  from  the  least  of  seeds,  it 
will  furnish  shelter  for  the  very  birds  that  had 
interfered  with  the  work  of  the  sower ;  and  that  a 
woman,  not  the  man,  will  hide  leaven,  sour  doughy 
in  three  measures  of  meal,  until  the  whole  ie 
leavened.  He,  however,  comforts  their  hearts  by 
the  assurance  that  He  has  a  treasure  hid  in  a  field, 
or  Israel  still  dear  to  His  heart,  and  one  pearl  of 
great  price,  or  His  loved  church,  for  the  sake  of 
which  He  had  sold  all  He  had. 

This  thirteenth  chapter  marks  the  break  and 
change  in  His  ministry,  as  it  is  the  turning  point  in 
the  book,  which  for  the  sake  of  convenience  may 
be  divided  as  follows  :  First,  the  birth  of  the  king, 
whose  lineage  is  traced  back  through  Joseph  to 
David  and  Abraham,  and  the  attempt  to  destroy 
the  infant  king  of  the  Jews,  i.,  ii.  Second,  the  bap- 
tism of  the  king,  succeeded  by  the  temptation 
which  reached  its  climax  in  the  offer  to  Him  of  all 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  iii.,  iv.  Third,  the 
actions  and  principles  becoming  the  subjects  of  a 
king,  already  preparing  His  followers  for  sorrow 
and  persecution,  v.-vii.  Fourth,  the  i^ersonal 
ministry  and  rejection  of  the  king,  leading  Him  no 
longer  to  recognize  Israel  after  the  flesh,  viii.-xii. 


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77 


Fifth,  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom,  or  the  state 
of  things  during  the  period  He  is  in  the  heavens, 
xiii.  Sixth,  the  king  is  seen  on  His  way  to  the 
cross,  xiv.-xxv.  Seventh,  His  agony  in  the  garden, 
His  crucifixion,  and  resurrection,  xxvi.-xxviii. 

But  it  will  be  observed  that  in  this  gospel  there 
is  no  ascension,  as  becometh  the  king  of  Israel,  an 
earthly  people,  whose  place  corporately  and  dis- 
pensationally  is  here  below.  But  while  we  see 
His  relations  to  Israel  all  the  way  through,  in 
every  miracle,  in  every  parable,  in  every  action, 
there  are  bright  intimations  of  His  grace  flowing 
out  to  the  Gentiles.  Hence  in  the  opening  chapter, 
there  are  only  four  women  mentioned,  and  upon 
each  of  these  there  was  a  dark  stain  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  proud  Jew.  There  were  many  illus- 
trious women  in  the  line  of  His  human  ancestry, 
but  only  Tamar,  Eahab,  Euth,  belonging  to  the 
accursed  race  of  Moab,  and  the  wife  of  Uriah,  are 
named,  as  if  the  Holy  Ghost  were  hinting  that  the 
king  knew  how  to  go  beyond  Israel,  in  order  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  Those  who 
thoroughly  study  this  precious  book,  and  are  taught 
by  the  Spirit  its  meaning,  will  have  a  key  not  only 
to  the  New  Testament,  but  to  the  Old.  The  more 
it  is  studied,  the  more  profound  will  be  the  convic- 
tion that  every  line  has  upon  it  the  stamp  of 
divinity. 


78  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 


MARK. 


It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  this  Gos- 
pel to  set  forth  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
faithful  and  obedient  Sers'ant,  according  to  the 
terms  of  the  x)rophecy,  "  Behold,  my  servant, 
whom  I  uphold,  mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul 
delighteth  :  I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him  -,  he 
shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles.  He 
shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be 
heard  in  the  street.  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not 
break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench  : 
he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  unto  truth.  .  .  . 
Who  is  blind,  but  my  servant  ?  or  deaf,  as  my  mes- 
senger that  I  sent  ?  Who  is  blind  as  he  that  is 
perfect,  and  blind  as  the  Lord's  servant  f  (Isa. 
xlii.  1-3,  195  xlix.  6;  lii.  13;  liii.  11). 

The  blessed  One  was  blind  to  every  object  but 
the  glory  of  God,  deaf  to  every  call  but  the  voice 
of  God,  and  hence  gave  us  an  example  of  i)erfect 
service.  It  was  a  service,  as  described  in  the  gos- 
pel of  Mark,  distinguished  by  many  beautiful  and 
significant  features.  First,  it  began  with  His 
temptation  in  the  wilderness,  when  He  "  was  with 
the  wild  beasts ;"  like  another  David  who  gains  the 
victory  in  secret  over  the  lion  and  the  bear,  before 
he  went  forth  to  open  conflict  with  Goliath.  This 
fact  is  recorded  by  Mark  alone. 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  rJ 

Second,  it  w.as  a  service  undertaken  in  secret 
X)rayer,  Mark  alone  informing  us,  that  "  in  the 
morning,  rising  up  a  great  while  before  day,  he 
went  out,  and  departed  into  a  solitary  place,  and 
there  prayed."  This  statement  is  the  more  note- 
worthy because  the  evening  before,  after  the  sun 
did  set,  and  we  know  not  how  far  into  the  night, 
He  was  at  work.  But  however  busy,  nothing 
must  hinder  the  faithful  servant  from  personal 
communion  with  God. 

Third,  it  was  a  service  promptly  rendered.  Ten 
times  in  the  opening  chapter  we  find  the  words 
immediately^  straitway^  forthwith^  as  indicating  the 
haste  and  energy  with  which  the  obedient  Servant 
did  the  bidding  of  Him  who  sent  Him.  The  Greek 
word  so  translated  occurs  eighty  times  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  forty  times  it  is  found  in  the  short 
gospel  of  Mark. 

Fourth,  it  was  an  unwearied  service.  Again  and 
again  it  is  recorded,  and  it  is  peculiar  to  Mark, 
that  when  He  sought  retirement  for  prayer,  and 
rest,  and  sleep.  He  suffered  the  need  of  others  to 
call  Him  forth  into  the  activities  of  His  busy  min- 
istry ;  nor  did  He  utter  a  murmuring  word  at  the 
thoughtless  selfishness  of  grief  and  want. 

Fifth,  it  was  a  service  that  entered  into  minute 
details,  as  if  nothing  were  too  small  for  His  notice. 
Mark  alone  mentions  the  fact  that  He  took  up  the 


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little  children  in  His  arms,  or  rather,  folded  them 
in  His  arms ;  that  He  not  only  set  a  little  child  in 
the  midst  of  His  disciples  as  the  symbol  of  true 
greatness,  but  took  him  up  iu  His  arms  ;  and  that 
He  took  the  mother  of  Peter's  wife  by  the  hand, 
and  lifted  her  up.  Many  such  striking  incidents 
can  be  gathered  by  comi^aring  the  different  gospels. 

Sixth,  it  was  a  service  rendered  in  great  tender- 
ness. Mark  alone  notices  that  He  had  compassion 
on  the  loathsome  leper;  that,  beholding  the  young 
ruler.  He  loved  him  ;  and  the  same  Evangelist  tells 
us  more  frequently  than  the  other  gospels,  of  the 
touch  of  His  hand,  His  looking.  His  sighing  ;  as  if 
the  Holy  Spirit  would  indicate  the  necessity  of  love 
and  sympathy  for  the  true  servant. 

Seventh,  it  was  a  service  not  performed  for  dis- 
play, but  carried  on  in  secret.  Hence  we  read  that 
He  took  the  deaf  man,  who  had  an  imj)ediment  in 
his  speech,  aside,  and  when  He  had  healed  him, 
"  charged  them  that  they  should  tell  no  man  f  that 
He  led  the  blind  man  out  of  the  town,  and  when 
He  had  given  him  sight,  said,  "  Neither  go  into  the 
town,  nor  tell  it  to  any  in  the  town ;"  and  that 
"  He  entered  into  a  house,  and  would  have  no  man 
know  it.'? 

This  gospel,  therefore,  as  compared  with  the 
others,  is  remarkable  both  for  its  omissions  and  its 
additions.    It  gives  no  account  of  the  genealogy  of 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  81 

Jesus,  nor  of  His  miraculous  conception  and  birth, 
nor  of  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  nor  is  the  title  of 
'*  Lord  ^^  given  Him  by  the  Evangelist  or  by  the 
disciples,  until  after  His  resurrection ;  but  He  Him- 
self declares,  only  in  this  gospel,  "  of  that  day  and 
that  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels 
which  are  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the 
Father.'^  This  language  which  has  i^erplexed  so 
many  becomes  perfectly  plain,  when  we  remember 
that  it  is  the  i>urpose  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  Mark 
to  reveal  Him  as  the  faithful  servant ;  and  '•''  the 
servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth." 

All  the  way  through  the  gospel  it  is  service, 
even  in  the  four  parables  that  are  recorded,  and  in 
the  miracles  that  are  mentioned.  Every  chapter, 
except  the  first,  seventh,  eighth,  and  fourteenth, 
begins  with  the  word  and,  as  if  there  were  scarcely 
a  pause  in  His  ministry  of  grace  from  first  to  last. 
Onward  He  moved  with  an  obedience  that  never 
faltered,  with  a  zeal  for  God's  glory  that  never 
wavered,  with  a  love  for  i)oor  sinners  that  no  cold- 
ness could  chill,  with  a  courage  that  no  danger 
could  shake.  The  opening  chapter  introduces  Him 
as  engaged  in  constant  labor  for  others,  and  the  last 
verse  of  the  last  chapter  tells  us  the  disciples 
"  went  forth  and  preached  everywhere,  the  Lord 
working  with  them,  and  confirming  the  word  with 
signs  following.     Amen.'' 


^^  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

It  is  important  too  to  state  that  Mark  observes 
the  chronological  order  of  events,  as  Matthew  does 
not,  and  hence  it  is  easy  to  follow  his  simple 
narrative.  First,  we  have  His  unceasing  toil  in 
Israel,  i.-vi.  Second,  His  rejection  by  the  leaders 
of  Israel,  vii.  Third,  the  announcement  of  His 
approaching  death,  viii.  Fourth,  His  journey 
from  the  mount  of  transfiguration  to  Jerusalem, 
ix.,  X.  Fifth,  His  entrance  into  the  city  and  final 
address  to  the  people,  xi.,  xii.  Sixth,  His  farewell 
message  to  His  disciples,  and  crucifixion,  xiii.-xv. 
Seventh,  His  resurrection  and  ascension,  xvi.  In 
the  study  of  the  whole  gospel  we  can  only  be 
"beyond  measure  astonished,  saying.  He  hath 
done  all  things  well,''  (vii.  37). 

LUKE. 

In  this  gospel  the  Holy  Ghost  presents  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  us  as  the  Son  of  man.  In 
Matthew  we  have  the  wise  men  asking,  "  Where 
is  he  that  is  born  king  of  the  Jews  ?  Mark  begins 
with  His  i)ublic  ministry.  But  in  Luke  the  angel 
says  to  the  shepherds,  "  Fear  not :  for,  behold,  I 
bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be 
to  all  i)eople.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day,  in 
the  city  of  David,  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the 
Lord."    Zacharias    before    His    birth'  announced 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  ^ 

that  He  was  "  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in 
darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  to  guide  our 
feet  into  the  way  of  peace ;"  and  at  His  circum- 
cision Simeon  j)reached  that  He  was  to  be  "  a  light 
to  lighten  the  Gentiles." 

Thus  at  the  beginning  of  this  gospel  He  is 
exhibited  in  His  broadest  relations  to  the  human 
race,  and  in  that  aspect  of  His  wondrous  character 
and  life  which  brings  Him  before  us  as  a  perfect 
man.  Hence  here  alone  we  read  that  "  the  child 
grew,"  that  "  when  he  was  twelve  years  old," 
Joseph  and  Mary  went  with  Him  ta  the  feast  of 
the  passover,  and  "  as  they  returned,  the  child 
Jesus  tarried  behind  in  Jerusalem,"  that  "  He 
went  down  with  them,  and  came  to  Nazareth,  and 
was  subject  unto  them,"  and  that  "  Jesus  increased 
in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and 
man."  All  of  this  is  intensely  human,  and  indi- 
cates a  purpose  distinct  from  the  other  gospels, 
that  can  not  escape  the  notice  of  the  attentive 
reader. 

So  in  the  genealogy  which  follows  His  baptism, 
unlike  Matthew  who  gives  us  "  the  book  of  the 
generation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  David, 
the  son  of  Abraham,  Luke  traces  His  lineage 
through  Mary  back  to  David,  back  to  Abraham, 
back  to  "Adam  which  was  of  God."  This  at  once 
links  Him  to  the  whole  family  of  man,  and  the 


84  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

thought  is  carried  out  in  all  of  the  parables  and 
teachings,  that  are  peculiar  to  the  third  gospel. 
Here  only  are  we  told  that  "  a  certain  man  went 
dow.n  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  3"  that  "  a  certain 
man  had  a  fig  tree  planted  in  his  vineyard  ;'^  that 
"  a  certain  man  made  a  great  supper ;''  that  "  this 
man  receiveth  sinners,  and  eateth  with  them;'^ 
that  "  a  certain  man  had  two  sons  5"  that  "  there 
was  a  certain  rich  man,  which  was  clothed  in  i^ur- 
ple  and  fine  linen ;''  that  "  two  men  went  up  into 
the  temple  to  pray;"  and  that  the  centurion, 
deeply  impressed  by  the  scenes  which  attended 
the  crucifixion  said,  "  Certainly  this  was  a  right- 
eous man.'^  The  last  statement  is  the  more  strik- 
ing when  compared  with  the  testimony  of  Matthew, 
"  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God,"  and  of  Mark, 
"  Truly  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God." 

Here  too  the  human  side  of  His  character  is 
brought  out  in  the  frequent  mention  of  His  pray- 
ing. Nowhere  else  do  we  learn  that  "when  all 
the  people  were  baptized,  it  came  to  pass,  that 
Jesus  also  being  baj^tized,  and  praying,  the  heaven 
was  opened ;"  that  "  He  withdrew  himself  into  the 
wilderness,  and  prayed ;"  that  "  He  went  out  into 
a  mountain  to  pray,  and  continued  all  night  in 
prayer  to  God,"  before  His  choice  of  the  twelve ; 
that  "  as  he  was  alone  praying"  Peter  confessed 
Him  "  the  Christ  of  God ;"  that  *'  He  went  up  into 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  85 

a  mountain  to  pray ;  and  as  lie  prayed  "  the  trans- 
figuration occurred ;  that  "  as  he  was  x-raying  in  a 
certain  place,  when  he  ceased  "  He  taught  the  dis- 
ciples the  Lord's  prayer ;  that  He  said  to  Peter, 
*'  I  have  prayed  for.  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not  ;'^ 
that  "  being  in  an  agony,  he  i)rayed  more  earn- 
estly ;"  that  on  the  cross  He  prayed,  "  Father,  for- 
give them ;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
Surely  in  all  this  He  brings  Himself  very  near  to 
us  as  the  pattern  man. 

There  are  many  minor  differences  between  Luke 
and  the  other  Evangelists,  in  the  narration  of  the 
same  facts,  which  the  diligent  student  of  the  Bible 
can  discover  for  himself,  if  he  will  take  a  so-called 
harmony  of  the  gospels,  and  notice  the  minute  dis- 
tinctions, every  one  of  which  proves  a  special  pur- 
pose in  each  of  the  four,  and  every  one  of  which 
proves  verbal  inspiration.  One  of  these  gospels 
was  written  before  the  others,  and  it  would  have 
been  an  easy  matter  for  a  copyist,  if  he  had  been  a 
mere  boy,  to  repeat  precisely  what  he  had  before 
his  eyes.  But  the  distinctions,  not  contradictions, 
show  that  the  pens  of  the  writers  were  guided  by 
superhuman  wisdom,  to  subserve  the  specific  de- 
sign of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  these  several  narratives. 

For  example,  when  our  Lord  sent  forth  the 
twelve,  according  to  Matthew  He  commanded 
them,  saying,  "  Go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles, 


86  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

and  into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans  enter  ye  not : 
but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel ;"  because  Matthew  gives  us  the  gospel  of 
the  king  of  Israel.  But  in  Luke  we  are  told  that 
"they  departed,  and  went  through  the  towns, 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  healing  everywhere;'^ 
because  here  we  have  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  man 
in  His  relations  to  the  whole  world.  Other  illus- 
trations of  carefully  prepared  differences  of  state- 
ment can  be  easily  found,  and  it  is  recommended 
to  those  who  would  receive  a  full  impression  of 
the  divinity  and  import  of  the  Scriptures,  to  place 
before  them  four  copies  of  the  gospels,  thought- 
fully examining  the  miracles,  parables,  sayings^ 
and  events,  that  are  recorded  in  two  or  more. 

The  divisions  of  Luke's  gospel  are  very  simple 
and  natural :  First,  Jesus  the  son  of  man  from  His 
birth,  through  His  childhood,  to  the  time  of  His 
baptism,  when  He  "  began  to  be  about  thirty  years 
of  age,  i.-iii.  Second,  His  public  ministry  in  the 
sympathies  of  a  human  heart,  leading  Him  about 
the  cities  and  towns  of  Galilee,  iv.-viii.  Third, 
His  sending  forth  the  twelve  and  the  seventy,  in 
connection  with  the  stedfast  setting  of  His  face  to 
go  to  Jerusalem  in  order  to  accomplish  His  exodus, 
ix.,  X.  Fourth,  His  grace  and  love  manifested 
during  the  i>rogress  of  His  last  journey,  and  His 
entrance  into  the  city,  xi.-xix.    Fifth,    His    last 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  87 

message  to  the  people,  and  to  His  disciples,  xx., 
xxi.  Sixth,  His  betrayal  and  death,  saving  a  poor 
sinner  even  on  the  cross,  xxii.,  xxiii.  Seventh,  His 
resurrection,  showing  Himself  to  be  still  the  son 
of  man  by  eating,  and  His  ascension,  xxiv. 

JOHN. 

This  sublime  and  beautiful  gospel  is  necessary 
to  complete  the  view  of  the  wonderful  character 
and  life  of  our  blessed  Lord.  As  already  noticed 
Matthew  describes  Him  as  the  Son  of  David, 
Mark  as  the  unwearied  Servant,  Luke  as  the 
Son  of  man,  while  it  was  reserved  for  John  to 
present  Him  as  the  Son  of  God.  Hence  it  is  not 
strange  that  through  all  the  history  of  the  Church, 
the  four  gospels  have  been  seen  to  answer  some- 
what to  the  four  cherubim  mentioned  in  the  book 
of  Eevelation.  The  first  was  like  a  lion,  and  is 
therefore  connected  with  the  gospel  of  Matthew, 
which  reveals  Jesus  (Jhrist  as  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah.  The  second  was  like  a  calf,  or,  as 
Ezekiel  has  it,  an  ox,  the  symbol  of  patient  service 
and  uncomplaining  sacrifice,  and  therefore  belongs 
to  Mark.  The  third  had  the  face  of  a  man,  and  is 
linked  to  Luke;  and  the  fourth  was  like  a  flying 
eagle,  the  suitable  emblem  of  the  gospel  of  John, 
setting  forth  the  heavenly  Stranger. 


88  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All  things  were 
made  by  Him  ;  and  without  him  was  not  anything 
made  that  was  made.  In  him  was  life  5  and  the 
life  was  the  light  of  men.''  Such  is  the  marvellous 
opening  of  the  fourth  gospel,  and  if  it  does  not 
prove  the  true  and  proper  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  doctrine  can  not  be  taught  in  human  language. 
In  the  same  chapter  there  are  twenty-one  distinct 
names  and  titles  given  to  Him,  to  which  may  be 
added  the  sevenfold  testimony  of  John  the  Baptist 
concerning  One,  in  whose  ever-increasing  greatness 
he  was  glad  to  decrease.  (1)  He  testifies  that 
Jesus  is  Lord,  i.  23 ;  (2)  that  He  is  the  Lamb  of 
God,  i.  29,  36;  (3)  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God,  i.  34; 
(4)  that  He  is  the  Bridegroom,  iii.  29  ;  (5)  that  He 
is  above  all,  iii.  31 ;  (6)  that  all  things  are  given 
into  His  hands,  iii.  35 ;  (7)  that  faith  in  Him  is 
essential  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  iii.  36. 

In  chapter  ii.,  we  have  His  first  miracle,  the 
turning  of  water  into  wine,  as  typical  of  the  cheer- 
ing and  joyful  dispensation  He  had  introduced, 
followed  by  the  scourging  from  the  temple  of  those 
who  polluted  its  sanctity;  showing  that  this  gospel 
commences,  as  it  were,  where  the  others  leave  off. 

In  cha])ter  iii.,  we  are  told  of  the  new  birth,  and 
therefore  of  the  Spirit,  who  is   presented  in  the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  89 

gospel,  (1)  as  quickening,  iii.  5-8;  (2)  as  indwelling, 
iv.  14 ;  (3)  as  outflowing,  vii.  38,  39 ;  (4)  as  comfort- 
ing, xiv.  16,  17 ;  (5)  as  teaching,  xiv.  26 ;  (6)  as 
testifying,  xv.  26 ;  (7)  as  showing  things  to  come, 
xvi.  13. 

In  chapter  iv.,  we  see  our  Lord  in  Samaria,  and 
again  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  talking  with  a  sinful 
woman  at  Jacob's  well,  meeting  her  six  words  of 
ignorance,  longing,  and  confession  with  seven 
words  of  matchless  grace,  and  then  in  divine  power 
giving  life  to  the  son  of  a  certain  nobleman,  which 
was  His  second  miracle. 

In  chapter  v.,  an  impotent  man,  lying  helpless 
at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  is  healed,  and  this  gives 
rise  to  a  wonderful  discourse,  that  can  leave  no 
room  for  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any,  who  are  subject 
to  the  word,  concerning  the  full  equality  of  the 
Son  with  the  Father.  The  chapter  mentions  four 
witnesses  to  the  fact  that  Jesus  is  the  source  and 
maintainer  of  life,  and  to  these  are  added  three 
other  witnesses  in  the  rest  of  the  gospel.  (1)  The 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  ;  (2)  John  the  Baptist; 
(3)  The  Father;  (4)  the  works  of  Jesus  ;  (5)  Jesus 
Himself  in  distinct  and  oft-repeated  testimony ;  (6) 
the  Spirit  of  truth  ;  (7)  all  true  believers. 

In  chapter  vi..  He  goes  over  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
feeds  an  immense  multitude  on  five  barley  loaves 
and  two  small  fishes,  walks  on  the  sea  at  night. 


90  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

when  a  great  wind  blew,  and  being  willingly 
received  by  the  terrified  disciples,  "immediately 
the  ship  was  at  the  land  whither  they  went,"  sug- 
gesting most  precious  thoughts  of  His  sufficiency 
for  our  need,  and  of  His  coming  again  when  His 
people  are  tossing  in  the  dark  upon  a  strange  sea. 
The  remainder  of  the  chapter  is  occupied  with  the 
revelation  of  Himself  as  the  Bread  of  life. 

In  chapter  vii.,  He  is  walking  in  Galilee  j  but 
about  the  midst  of  the  feast  of  tabernacles  sud- 
denly appears  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and, 
looking  upon  the  longing  crowds  in  vain  endeavor- 
ing to  satisfy  their  souls  with  empty  forms.  He 
utters  the  sweet  invitation,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me,  and  drink." 

In  chapter  viii..  He  is  on  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
but,  coming  early  in  the  morning  into  the  temple, 
He  pardons  a  woman  who  was  taken  in  the  act  of 
adultery,  writing  with  His  finger  in  the  dust,  which 
is  the  type  of  death,  while  her  equally  guilty 
accusers  fiercely  demanded  her  condemnation  ;  and 
then  again  revealing  Himself  as  the  light,  aud  the 
life,  and  the  Son  of  God,  closing  with  the  declara- 
tion, "  Before  Abraham  was  [literally,  was  made, 
or  came  into  existence]  I  am." 

In  chapter  ix.,  passing  out  of  the  temple  to 
avoid  the  stones  hurled  at  Him  by  the  infuriated 
Jews,   He  gave  sight  to  a  man  born  blind,  and 


•    BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  91 

when  the  man  was  excommunicated  for  the  con- 
fession of  His  name,  He  sought  him,  and  made 
Himself  known  to  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  and 
received  his  grateful  worshij). 

Chai^ter  x.,  should  be  connected  with  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  and  it  brings  out  the  relation  of 
Christ  to  His  people  as  that  of  a  tender  Shepherd, 
but  He  again  declares  that  He  is  the  Son  of  God. 
Chapter  xi.,  gives  us  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus, 
with  its  momentous  consequences  to  Jesus  Him- 
self. In  chapter  xii.,  we  behold  Him  at  the  brazen 
altar,  aslt  were,  speaking  of  His  death.  In  chap- 
ter xiii.,  He  stands  at  the  laver,  washing  the  dis- 
ciples' feet.  In  chapter  xiv.,  He  turns  His  face  to 
the  temple  with  its  numerous  chambers,  and  tells 
of  the  Father's  house  and  its  many  mansions,  and 
of  His  going  to  prepare  a  place  for  His  saved  ones, 
and  of  His  coming  again.  In  chapter  xv..  He 
approaches  the  vine-clad  porch,  and  gives  us  a  won- 
derful word  about  fruit  bearing.  In  chapter  xvi., 
we  may  think  of  Him  as  entering  in  spirit  the  holy 
place;  and  in  chapter  xvii.,  the  high  x>riest  is  in 
the  holiest  of  all,  offering  up  His  precious  and 
inexhaustible  intercessory  prayer. 

The  remaining  chapters  are  occupied  with  His 
arrest,  trial,  crucifixion,  resurrection,  and  final 
appearance  to  the  disciples,  all  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  design  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  this  gospel. 


92  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE, 

When  the  risen  Lord  came  to  those  whom  for  the 
first  time  He  addressed  as  brethren,  three  times 
He  met  them  with  the  glad  message,  '^  Peace  be 
unto  you,"  as  if  He  would  say,  I  have  been  down 
into  the  dark  domain  of  death,  and  not  an  enemy, 
nor  an  accuser  is  left.  When  in  touching  love  He 
restored  Peter  to  peace  of  conscience,  which  he  had 
lost  by  his  cruel  denial  of  his  Master,  the  humbled 
Apostle,  going  up  from  the  feet  of  Jesus,  had 
strength  to  drag  the  net  of  fishes  to  land,  although 
eeven  men  had  i^reviously  failed. 

The  whole  gospel  may  be  divided  as  follows : 
First,  the  introduction,  i.  Second,  the  personal 
ministry  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  largely  in  Judsea, 
embracing  three  passovers,  at  which  He  appeared 
successively  as  prophet,  priest,  and  king,  ii.-xi. 
Third,  His  royal  entrance  into  Jerusalem,  and 
announcement  of  His  death,  xii.  Fourth,  His 
observance  of  the  passover,  and  farewell  words, 
setting  forth  the  perfect  safety  of  believers,  the 
abiding  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  secret  of 
constant  fruit-bearing,  and  Himself  as  the  source 
of  peace  in  a  world  of  tribulation,  xiii.-xvi.  Fifth, 
His  intercessory  prayer,  xvii.  Sixth,  His  trial  and 
death,  xviii.,  xix.  Seventh,  His  resurrection  and 
revelation  of  Himself  to  His  followers,  xx.,  xxi. 
So  far  as  this  gospel  goes,  they  are  still  following 
Him  along  the  shores  of  Galilee. 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  93 

THE  ACTS   OF   THE  APOSTLES. 

Luke,  who  was  employed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
record  these  acts,  begins  his  Gospel  narrative 
with  the  statement,  *'  It  seemed  good  to  me 
also,  having  had  perfect  understanding  of  all 
things  from  the  very  first,  to  write  unto  thee  in 
order,  most  excellent  Theophilus.'^  The  word  ren- 
dered from  the  very  first  is  elsewhere  translated 
from  above,  (John  iii.  31  j  xix.  11;  Jas.  i.  17  ;  iii.  15, 
17) ;  and  it  may  refer  to  the  fact  that  he  had  per- 
fect understanding  of  all  things  by  divine  inspira- 
tion. Here  He  says,  "  The  first  narrative,  indeed, 
made  I,  concerning  all  things,  O  Theophilus,  which 
Jesus  began  to  do  and  teach."  Such  is  Eother- 
ham's  translation,  to  which  he  adds  in  a  foot-note, 
"The  FIRST  narrative  told  of  all  things  which 
Jesus,  while  on  earth,  began  to  do  and  teach  ;  this 
SECOND  narrative  tells  of  all  things  which  Jesus, 
from  heaven,  went  on  to  do  and  teach.  This  em- 
phatic imi)lication  is  a  key  to  the  following  history.'^ 

Hence  it  would  have  been  more  properly  called 
*'The  Acts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  for  it  contains  His 
name  nearly  sixty  times,  and  it  is  largely  but  the 
manifestation  of  His  power  through  the  Apostles 
and  others.  The  book  opens  with  the  ascension 
and  promised  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  like  man- 
ner as  He  was   seen  to   go  into  heaven ;   and  it 


94  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

closes  with  the  Apostle  in  prison,  as  if  to  indicate 
the  rejection  and  persecution  of  His  faithful 
witnesses,  just  before  His  second  advent.  But  the 
interval  should  be  filled,  as  we  learn  here,  with 
prayer,  scriptural  testimony,  and  evangelistic  ser- 
vices, not,  indeed,  in  the  expectation  of  the  world's 
conversion,  for  the  Apostles  plainly  declare,  when 
all  these  were  employed  with  an  energy  and  power 
never  since  equalled,  that  such  is  not  God's  pur- 
pose in  the  present  dispensation.  His  revealed 
design  is  to  take  out  of  the  Gentiles  a  people  foi 
His  name ;  and  after  tliis  the  Lord  will  return  in 
person  to  resume  covenant  relation  to  the  Jews, 
that  the  residue  of  men  may  seek  the  Lord,  and  all 
the  Gentiles,  (xv.  14-18). 

It  is  a  most  suggestive  fact  that  prayer,  and 
united  prayer,  occupies  so  prominent  a  place  in 
this  instructive  book.  The  Apostles  "all  con- 
tinued with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  supplication, 
with  the  women,"  (i.  14) ;  "  and  they  prayed,"  (i. 
24) ;  "  they  continued  stedfastly  in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread, 
and  in  prayers,"  (ii.  42)  j  *'  Peter  and  John  went  up 
together  into  the  temple  at  the  hour  of  prayer," 
(iii.  1) ;  "  when  they  had  prayed,  the  place  was 
shaken  where  they  were  assembled  together,"  (iv. 
31)  J  "  we  will  give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer, 
and  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  j"  and  it  will  be 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  05 

observed  that  prayer  is  placed  before  the  ministry 
of  the  word,  (vi.  4) ;  "  and  when  they  had  prayed, 
they  laid  their  hands  on  them,"  (vi.  6) ;  Stephen 
died  praying,  (vii.  60) ;  Peter  and  John  went  down 
to  Samaria  to  see  the  new  converts,  and  "  i)rayed 
for  them,"  (viii.  15) ;  "  pray  God,"  (viii.  22) ;  "  pray 
ye  to  the  Lord  for  me,"  (viii.  24);  "behold,  he 
prayeth,"  (ix.  11);  "  Peter  put  them  all  forth,  and 
kneeled  down,  and  prayed,"  (ix.  40) ;  "  Peter  went 
up  upon  the  housetop  to  pray,"  (x.  9) ;  "I  prayed 
in  my  house,"  (x.  30) ;  "I  was  in  the  city  of  Joppa, 
praying,"  (xi.  5) ;  "  i^rayer  was  made  without  ceas- 
ing of  the  church  unto  God  for  him,"  (xii.  5). 
See  also  xii.  12;  xiii.  3;  xiv.  23;  xvi.  13,  16,  25; 
XX.  36 ;  xxi.  5 ;  xxii,  17 ;  xxviii.  8.  Truly,  Christians 
prayed,  and  had  prayer  meetings,  in  those  days. 

.Another  striking  fact  is  the  scriptural  preaching 
of  the  Apostles.  Almost  the  whole  of  the  effective 
sermon  delivered  by  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
consists  of  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament ; 
and  so  it  is  of  Stephen's  address,  when  he  stood 
before  the  council,  and  they  "  saw  his  face  as  it 
had  been  the  face  of  an  angel."  These  discourses, 
that  are  the  longest  in  the  book,  would  be  regarded 
at  present  as  nothing  more  than  "  Bible  readings ;" 
but  the  Holy  Ghost  j)ut  upon  them  the  seal  of  His 
approval.  "  Paul,  as  his  manner  was,  went  in 
unto  them,  and  three  sabbath  days  reasoned  with 


06  BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

them  out  of  the  scriptures,''  (xvii.  2).  To  king 
Agrippa  he  testified  that  he  had  been  "  witnessing 
both  to  small  and  great,  saying  none  other  things 
than  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come," 
(xxvi.  22) ;  and  in  the  last  notice  we  get  of  him  in 
Rome,  the  Jews  gathered  around  him,  *'  to  whom 
he  expounded  and  testified  the  kingdom  of  God, 
persuading  them  concerning  Jesus,  both  out  of  the 
law  of  Moses,  and  out  of  the  prophets,  from  morn- 
ing till  evening,*'  (xxviii.  23).  Thus  it  is  with 
every  sermon  of  which  we  catch  a  glimpse 
throughout  the  book.  Jesus  was  the  subject,  and 
the  Scripture  furnished  the  proof.  If  any  think 
they  improve  upon  this  method  when  they  put  a 
text  at  the  beginning  of  their  essays,  and  then 
shun  it,  and  all  other  scripture,  as  carefully  as  if  it 
had  the  small  pox,  they  may  well  consider  whether 
in  their  desire  to  please  men,  they  do  not  dishonor 
and  grieve  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Still  another  fact  seen  in  the  study  of  this  por- 
tion of  God's  word  is  the  dependence  of  the  Apos- 
tles and  early  Christians  upon  the  Spirit.  The 
promise  of  the  Saviour  was  that  they  should  re- 
ceive power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  come 
upon  them ;  and  a  few  days  later,  when  there  came 
a  sound  from  heaven,  *' as  of  a  rushing  mighty 
wind,"  and  as  if  the  Holy  Ghost  were  in  haste  to 
bear  witness  to  the  ascension  of  Jesus  to  the  right 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  97 

hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  "  they  were  all  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with 
other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance," 
(ii.  4).  They  uDight  be  threatened  and  imprisoned, 
but  "  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
they  spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness,"  (iv. 
31).  So  filled,  earthly  possessions  were  nothing  in 
their  esteem ;  and  when  it  became  necessary  to 
select  seven  men  to  look  after  the  wants  of  the 
Hellenist  Jews,  who  complained  "  because  their 
widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministration," 
among  others  Stephen  was  chosen,  "  a  man  full  of 
faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;"  and  the  next  record 
is,  *' full  of  faith  and  power,"  (vi.  5-8).  The  way 
to  obtain  power  is  the  same  to-day  it  was  then : 
full  of  faith,  and  of  the  Holy  (rhost,  and  of  power, 
is  still  the  divinely  prescribed  mode. 

There  are  two  leading  divisions  of  the  book,  of 
almost  equal  length.  The  first  gathers  about 
Jerusalem  as  the  centre,  and  Peter  as  the  promi- 
nent figure,  i.-xii. ;  the  second  gathers  about  Anti- 
och,  a  Gentile  city,  as  the  centre,  and  Paul,  "  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles,"  as  the  prominent  figure, 
xiii.-xxviii.  More  minutely  we  have  First,  the 
ascension  and  promised  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
i.  Second,  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  man- 
ifested power,  and  the  founding  of  the  Church,  ii. 
Third,    the    active    ministry  of   the   Holy  Ghost 


98  BOOKS    OF   THE  BIBLE. 

through  the  apostles  and  others,  the  presence  of 
evil,  put  down  by  a  sharp  stroke  as  it  will  be  in 
the  day  of  Christ,  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  the 
persecution  of  the  saints,  the  conversion  of  Saul, 
the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  but  still  in  connection 
with  Jerusalem,  and  the  tyranny  and  x^i'i^e  of 
Herod,  as  a  type  of  the  antichrist,  iii.-xii.  Fourth, 
Paul's  first  missionary  journey,  extending  over  the 
large  island  of  Cyprus,  and  a  portion  of  Asia  Minor, 
terminating  with  the  authoritative  announcement 
of  the  freedom  of  Gentile  believers  from  the  law  of 
Moses,  xiii.-xv.  Fifth,  Paul's  second  missionary 
tour,  reaching  into  Europe,  where  he  gathered  a 
company  of  believers  at  Philippi,  x)reached  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection  in  cultivated  Athens,  and 
continued  in  dissolute  Corinth  a  year  and  six 
months,  determined  to  know  nothing  among  them, 
save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,  xvi.-xviii. 
Sixth,  Paul's  third  missionary  expedition,  all  start- 
ing from  Antioch,  and  his  labor  for  two  years  in 
Ephesu-s  and  the  surrounding  region,  xix.,  xx. 
Seventh,  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  his  arrest  in 
the  temple,  his  imprisonment  for  two  years  in 
Csesarea,  and  his  stormy  voyage  to  Eome,  where 
in  the  closing  words  of  the  book,  we  see  him  still 
"preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching 
those  things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ," 
xxi.-xxviii. 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  99 

ROMANS. 

Of  the  seven  epistles  to  Gentile  churches,  that 
to  the  Eomans  is  properly  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  list.  It  was  not  the  first  that  was  written, 
but  it  is  first  in  the  importance  of  its  relations  to 
Christian  doctrine,  if  one  may  distinguish  where 
all  is  divine.  It  lays  broad  and  deep  the  founda- 
tions of  gospel  truth,  showing  what  man  is  by 
nature ;  how  helpless  and  hopeless  he  is,  even  in 
the  midst  of  his  highest  attainments  in  a  Godless 
culture  and  religion;  the  wonderful  scheme  of 
redem]3tion  accomplished  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
its  application  to  the  believer  by  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
God's  absolute  sovereignty  in  its  bestowal;  the 
eternal  security  of  the  Christian  ;  and  his  affection- 
ate obedience  as  a  dear  child,  notwithstanding  the 
unchangeable  badness  of  the  nature  he  has  re- 
ceived from  fallen  Adam.  It  sets  forth  with  the 
clearness  and  force  of  inspiration  in  every  word, 
God's  righteousness,  our  justification  by  faith 
alone,  our  sanctification  through  oneness  with  our 
risen  Lord,  our  present  freedom  from  condemna- 
tion, the  impossibility  of  our  separation  from  His 
love,  our  election  irrespective  of  any  good  works 
as  the  procuring  cause,  and  the  fruit  of  all  this  as 
seen  in  a  life  filled  with  love  to  God  and  man. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  while  reading  this 


100  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

epistle,  that  the  division  of  the  English  Bible 
into  chapters  and  verses  is  of  human  origin,  and 
often  the  divisions  exhibit  very  little  spiritual 
intelligence.  But  with  this  fact  in  view,  the  follow- 
ing may  be  regarded  in  general  as  appropriate 
titles  of  the  various  chapters :  The  ruin  of  man, 
chap.  i.  God's  judgment  on  man,  chap.  ii.  All 
under  sin,  chap.  iii.  Eighteousness  by  faith,  chap, 
iv.  Eesults  of  faith,  chap.  v.  Dead  to  sin,  chap, 
vi.  Dead  to  the  law,  chap.  vii.  In  Christ  Jesus, 
chap.  viii.  God's  sovereignty,  chap.  ix.  Israel's 
failure,  chap.  x.  Israel's  future,  chaj).  xi.  The 
Christian's  character,  chap.  xii.  The  Christian's 
relation  to  civil  rulers,  chap.  xiii.  The  Christian's 
relations  to  the  brethren,  chap.  xiv.  The  Chris- 
tian's labors,  chap.  xv.  Christian  salutations, 
chap.  xvi. 

God  is  kept  prominently  in  view  throughout  the 
epistle.  His  name  occurring  twenty-one  times  in 
the  opening  chapter,  where  we  read  of  the  gospel 
of  God,  the  Son  of  God,  the  beloved  of  God,  the 
will  of  God,  the  power  of  God,  the  righteousness 
of  God,  and  the  wrath  of  God.  In  connection  with 
this  we  see  in  the  same  chapter  the  progress  of  the 
human  race  apart  from  God,  (vs.  21),  the  results  of 
human  culture,  (vs.  22),  the  achievements  of  the 
human  intellect,  (vs.  23),  the  manifestations  of 
human  virtue,  (vs.  24),  the  end  reached  of  human 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  101 

love  o.f  truth,  (vs.  25),  human  religion  when  man  is 
left  to  his  own  resources,  (vs.  25),  and  the  true 
picture  of  society, -after  philosophy,  science,  and 
art  had  done  their  best  for  the  Greek  and  Eoman 
world,  (vs.  26-32). 

In  the  next  chapter  the  Jew  receives  yet  heavier 
condemnation,  by  reason  of  his  exalted  privileges, 
for  while  resting  in  the  law,  making  his  boast  of 
God,  knowing  God's  will,  approving  the  good,  in- 
structed in  the  law,  having  confidence  in  himself, 
and  instructing  others,  the  name  of  God  was  blas- 
phemed among  the  Gentiles  through  his  disobedi- 
ence. Hence  in  the  third  chapter,  both  Jew  and 
Gentile  are  all  proved  to  be  under  sin,  first  by 
negative  and  then  by  positive  testimony  -,  and  it  is 
a  sin  manifested  in  the  throat, 'tongue,  lips,  mouth, 
feet,  ways,  eyes,  the  whole  man,  both  inward  and 
outward,  being  utterly  defiled,  depraved,  and 
ruined.  If  therefore  he  ever  gets  righteousness,  it 
must  be  the  gift  of  God,  as  shown  in  the  fourth 
chapter,  and  illustrated  and  confessed  by  Old 
Testament  saints.  This  righteousness  becomes 
ours  only  in  answer  to  faith,  which  means  that  we 
cease  from  our  own  efforts,  and  trust  wholly  in 
Christ,  thus  obtaining  peace,,or  a  permanent  state 
of  acceptance  with  God.  Thus,  too,  God  continues 
to  observe  the  principle  upon  which  He  was 
l)leased  to   constitute  the   race,  that  one    should 


102  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

stand  as  the  head  and  representative  of  the  many, 
all  of  which  is  brought  out  in  the  fifth  chapter. 

Then  follows  the  old  and  the  new  objection  of 
ignorance  to  grace,  that  it  leads  to  sin.  But  the 
inspired  Apostle  shows  that  the  believer  is  dead 
to  sin,  and  dead  to  the  law,  by  virtue  of  his  union 
with  the  risen  Christ,  and  that  he  can  obtain  de- 
liverance, neither  from  the  one  nor  the  other,  by 
looking  at  self,  and  struggling  with  self,  but  only 
by  looking  away  from  self,  and  by  resting  on  Christ 
day  after  day,  hour  after  hour.  This  we  have  in 
the  sixth  and  seventh  chapters,  and  in  vs.  7-25  of 
the  latter  chapter,  "  I,"  "  me,"  and  "  myself"  occur 
forty-nine  times.  No  wonder  it  is  the  passage  of 
despair.  But  the  eighth  chapter  is  a  shout  of 
triumph,  commencing  with  "no  condemnation," 
ending  with  "no  separation,"  and  "  God  for  us  "  in 
the  middle. 

The  next  three  chapters  deal  largely  with  Israel, 
making  manifest  that  the  church  dispensation  is  a 
parenthesis,  interrupting  the  flow  of  special  grace 
to  God^s  ancient  people,  "  until  the  fulness  of  the 
Gentiles  be  come  in,"  when  it  will  be  resumed  in 
unchanging  covenant  mercy,  and  flow  on  in  its  mil- 
lennial brightness  and  beauty,  waters  to  swim  in, 
a  river  that  can  not  be  passed  over,  (Ezek.xlvii.  5). 
The  remainder  of  the  book  is  occupied  with  exhor- 
tations and  incentives  to  personal  consecration  of 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  103 

soul  and  body,  and  to  mutual  love  and  forbearance 
in  our  relations  to  the  brethren. 

The  three  divisions  that  are  usually  made  of  the 
epistle  are  first,  Doctrinal,  i.-viii. ;  second,  Dis- 
pensational,  ix.-xi. ;  third,  Practical,  xii.-xvi.  But 
if  it  will  be  helpful  to  any,  it  may  be  described  as 
setting  forth,  first.  The  ruin  of  man,  i.-iii. ;  second, 
Salvation  by  grace,  iv.,  v. ;  third.  Dead  to  sin  and 
the  law,  vi.,  vii. ;  fourth.  Safe  in  Christ,  viii. ;  fifth, 
God's  way  with  Israel,  ix.-xi. ;  sixth.  Christian 
character  and  conduct,  xii.-xv. )  and  seventh, 
Christian  salutations,  xvi.  The  phrase,  "it  is 
written,'^  occurs  eighteen  times ;  and  there  are 
sixty-one  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament, 
besides  obvious  allusions  to  the  ancient  scriptures, 
which  the  apostle  recognized  as  the  authoritative 
voice  of  God. 

FIRST    CORINTHIANS. 

This  Epistle  was  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  57,  toward  the  close 
of  the  Apostle's  three  years'  residence  in  Ephesus. 
In  Acts  xviii.  we  learn  that  this  devoted  servant 
of  Christ  had  labored  for  more  than  a  year  and  a 
half  in  Corinth,  a  magnificent  commercial  city 
situated  on  a  narrow  isthmus  between  the  Ionian 
and  JEgean  seas.  It  was  a  city  noted  for  its 
wealth,  culture,  luxury,  and  licentiousness.     The 


104  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Acrocorinthus,  towering  two  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  commanding  a  view  of  unsurpassed  love- 
liness, including  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  was  the 
site  of  the  temple  of  Yenus,  in  which  more  than 
a  thousand  priestesses,  all  of  whom  were  prosti- 
tutes, daily  ministered  to  the  lust  of  men. 

After  the  Apostle's  departure  many  of  the 
church,  gathered  by  his  faithful  testimony  and  ser- 
vice, yielded  to  the  corrupt  influences  around 
them,  and  fell  into  grievous  sin.  The  beginning  of 
their  decline  can  be  readily  traced  to  the  pride  of 
intellect,  and  the  vain  boastings  of  philosophy, 
leading  to  party  spirit,  to  seduction  *'  from  the  sim- 
plicity that  is  in  Christ,"  to  a  contemptuous  rejec- 
tion of  the  humbling  doctrines  of  grace,  to  an 
excuse  for  the  natural  but  lawless  gratification  of 
the  appetites,  to  a  disregard  of  marriage  ties,  to  a 
blunted  conscience  touching  the  worship  of  idols, 
to  a  subversion  of  the  divinely  appointed  relation 
between  man  and  woman,  to  forgetfulness  of  the 
very  purpose  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  ambition 
and  self-seeking,  and  at  last  to  a  denial  of  the 
fundamental  truth  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 

It  is  easy,  therefore,  to  see  how  applicable  are 
the  solemn  admonitions  and  entreaties  and  instruc- 
tions of  the  Epistle  to  our  own  times  ;  and  it  should 
be  kept  in  mind  that  it  is  addressed,  not  only 
"  unto  the  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth,"  but 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  105 

also  to  "  all  that  in  everyplace  call  upon  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  their's  and  our's." 
The  same  experiment  is  made  now,  that  was  made 
then,  when  the  Apostle  testifies  that  "  the  world 
by  wisdom  knew  not  God,'^  and  "  the  natural  man, 
[the  psychical,  or  as  Eotherham  says  *  the  souUcal 
man,'  man  using  merely  his  intellect]  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  :  for  they  are  fool- 
ishness unto  him  :  neither  can  he  know  them,  be- 
cause they  are  spiritually  discerned."  The  danger 
which  threatens  the  church  to-day  is  x^recisely  the 
same  that  nearly  ruined  the  church  of  Corinth,  for 
every  fresh  discovery  and  invention  of  the  human 
intellect  is  carrying  men  further  from  God,  and 
deeper  into  manifold  errors  and  vices.  Hence  the 
profound  significance  of  the  Epistle  in  its  bearing 
upon  the  state  of.  things  at  present  existing. 

A  general  outline  of  the  several  chapters  may  be 
presented  as  follows  :  The  salutation,  introduction, 
the  rebuke  of  party  spirit,  and  the  foolishness  of 
man  as  contrasted  with  the  wisdom  of  God,  chap, 
i.  The  true  preacher  knows  nothing,  save  Jesus 
Christ,  and  Him  crucified,  and  delivers  his  message 
in  the  words  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth,  chap, 
ii.  Divisions  among  Christians  reveal  a  carnal 
state,  and  those  who,  not  having  an  eye  single 
to  the  glory  of  Christ,  put  poor  material  into  the 
building  of  God,  will  have  their  work  burned  at 


106  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

last,  although  if  on  the  only  foundation,  they  them- 
selves shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire,  chap.  iii. 
Faithful  ministerial  service  attested  by  a  thorough 
denial  of  self,  and  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
chap.  iv.  Impurity  rebuked,  and  discipline  exer- 
cised, chap.  V.  Believers  forbidden  to  go  to  law 
against  one  another,  and  fornication  defiling  the 
body,  which  is  redeemed  to  be  the  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  chap.  vi.  The  law  of  marriage,  chap, 
vii.  The  believer  seeking  the  good  of  his  brethren 
in  abstaining  from  that  which  in  itself  is  harmless, 
chap.  viii.  Self-denial  the  privilege  of  saints,  and 
the  way  to  win  the  crown,  chap.  ix.  Warnings 
against  self-indulgence,  and  positive  prohibitions 
to  make  any  compromise  with  idolatry,  chap.  x. 
Woman's  place  in  relation  to  man,  and  the  import- 
ance of  properly  observing  the  Lord's  Supper, 
chap.  xi.  Concerning  spiritual  gifts,  and  the  unity 
of  the  body,  chap.  xii.  Concerning  the  best  gift, 
which  is  love,  of  which  Christ  is  the  embodiment 
and  the  exponent,  chap.  xiii.  Directions  for  public 
worship  in  the  church,  where  woman,  in  subserving 
the  design  of  God  in  her  creation  and  redemption, 
is  to  keep  silence,  chap.  xiv.  The  resurrection, 
chap.  XV.  Contributions  for  Christian  purposes 
j>art  of  the  worship  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  farewell  exhortations  and  greetings,  chap.  xvi. 
It  will  thuB  be  seen  that  the  Epistle  sweeps  over 


BOOKS    OF   THE   BIBLE.  .  107 

a  vast  raoge  of  practical  subjects ;  and  to  these 
words  nothing  must  be  added,  from  them  nothing 
must  be  taken.  They  still  form  a  rule  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Christian  and  the  Church,  and  how 
much  they  are  needed  may  be  gathered  from  a 
glance  at  the  condition  of  things  all  around,  and  at 
the  evils  which  are  here  so  sharply  censured. 
First,  party  spirit,  and  the  following  of  men  in  the 
things  of  God,  receive  severe  reproof,  i.-iv.  Second^ 
remissness  in  the  exercise  of  discipline,  and  the 
failure  of  the  Church  to  exclude  immoral  members,- 
V.  Third,  brethren  fought  against  brethren  before 
heathen  magistrates,  revealing  a  state  of  heart  and 
mind,  that  at  once  accounts  for  their  lack  of  per- 
sonal purity,  and  of  loyal  consecration  to  Christ, 
and  of  fidelity  in  the  marriage  relation,  vi.,  vii. 
Fourth,  in  order  to  make  their  *'  religion  genial,'^ 
they  sadly  compromised  the  truth  of  the  gospel  by 
compliance  with  the  customs  of  the  world,  viii.-x. 
Fifth,  women  were  leaving  their  place  of  subjec- 
tion and  modest  retirement,  to  push  to  the  front, 
while  there  was  strange  ignorance  of  the  nature 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  there  was  no  longer 
a  mutual  dependence  of  the  members,  one  upon 
another,  xi.-xiii.  Sixth,  speaking  in  a  language 
that  nobody  could  understand,  thus  exciting  ad- 
miration, was  unduly  coveted  and  ostentatiously 
displayed,  xiv.     Seventh,  the  literal  resurrection 


108  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  dead,  involving  the  utter  destruction  of  the 
gospel,  was  denied  then,  as  it  is  now,  xv.  If  Eome 
was  the  symbol  of  power,  Corinth  was  the  seat  of 
culture,  and  we  see  where  it  leads,  when  not  kept 
beneath  the  cross.  Blessed  be  God,  the  coming  of 
the  Lord,  so  often  mentioned  in  this  Epistle,  is  the 
bright  end  to  which  man's  failure  is  hastening. 

SECOND   EPISTLE   TO    THE   CORINTHIANS. 

Soon  after  the  first  epistle  was  written,  the 
Apostle  left  Ephesus,  owing  in  part  at  least 
to  the  uproar  which  his  preaching  had  excited,  to 
go  into  Macedonia.  Titus,  his  fellow-laborer  and 
travelling  companion,  was  sent  to  Corinth  to  learn 
the  effect  produced  by  the  inspired  admonitions 
and  instructions ;  and  Paul  anxiously  awaited  his 
return  at  Troas.  There  he  continued  "  to  preach 
Christ's  gospel,"  and  he  says,  "  a  door  was  opened 
unto  me  of  the  Lord ;"  but  as  week  after  week 
passed,  and  Titus  did  not  make  his  appearance,  he 
had  no  rest  in  his  spirit,  and  at  length  his  extreme 
solicitude  about  the  Corinthian  Church  led  him  to 
oontinue  his  journey  to  Macedonia,  and  no  doubt 
to  Philippi,  where  his  friend  rejoined  him,  and 
where  in  all  probability  the  second  epistle  was 
written,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  58. 

This  is  a  suitable  i)lace  to  make  a  brief  statement 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  100 

about  the  second  epistles  of  the  New  Testament 
in  general.  Of  the  seven  Gentile  churches  form- 
ally addressed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Eomans, 
Galatians,  Ephesians,  Philippians,  and  Colossians 
received  but  one  epistle  each,  and  the  moment  the 
contents  of  these  various  epistles  are  clearly  under- 
stood, it  will  be  seen  that  nothing  can  be  added  to 
them.  They  are  complete  in  themselves.  But  the 
reasons  for  second  epistles  to  the  Corinthians  and 
Thessalonians  are  equally  obvious.  The  condition 
of  these  two  churches  demanded  second  epistles ; 
and  it  was  not  by  chance,  or  oversight,  or  forget- 
fuluess  on  the  part  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to^say  some- 
thing in  the  first  epistles  which  needed  mention, 
that  two  of  the  seven  churches  are  addressed  a 
second  time. 

Moreover  there  is  a  profound  significance  in  all 
of  the  second  epistles,  which  should  not  escape  the 
notice  of  careful  students  of  God's  word.  Besides 
the  two  to  the  Corinthians  and  Thessalonians,  we 
have  the  second  epistle  to  Timothy,  the  second 
epistle  of  Peter,  the  second  and  third  epistles  of 
John.  In  all  of  these  much  is  made  of  the  proper 
ministry  of  the  word,  much  is  made  of  the  truth ; 
and  there  are  solemn  warnings  and  awful  denun- 
ciations against  false  teachers.  This  fact,  taken  in 
connection  with  repeated  references  to  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  shows  that  the  Holy  Ghost  in 


110  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

the  second  epistles  designs  to  make  a  special  appli- 
cation to  the  last  days  of  the  truth  brought  out  in 
the  first  epistles.  Hence  the  peculiar  value  of  the 
second  epistles  at  the  j^resent  time,  when  all  man- 
ner of  false  doctrine  is  rapidly  increasing  on  every 
hand.  They  are  surely  worthy  of  a  more  diligent 
perusal  than  they  usually  receive. 

In  the  second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  the  in- 
spired writer,  having  learned  from  Titus  the  prac- 
tical results  of  his  former  epistle,  and  desiring  to 
eradicate  wholly  the  errors  and  evils  still  existing 
among  the  brethren  so  dear  to  his  heart,  expresses 
Ms  thanks  to  God  for  the  comfort  derived  from  the 
tidings  that  had  reached  him,  and  promptly  meets 
the  charge  of  fickleness  which  the  Judaizing 
teachers  alleged  against  the  absent  apostle,  chap, 
i.  He  then  refers  to  the  "much  affliction  and 
anguish  of  heart ''  out  of  which  he  had  previously 
written,  exhorting  them  with  great  tenderness  to 
deal  gently  with  the  erring  brother,  and  exulting 
in  the  continued  triumph  of  the  gospel,  chap.  ii. 
This  is  followed  by  a  defence  of  his  ministry, 
which  was  exercised  under  the  new  covenant  of 
grace,  and  not  under  the  old  covenant  of  law, 
chap.  iii. ;  and  by  a  vindication  of  the  manner 
in  which  he  discharged  his  ministry,  that  in 
his  personal  weakness  and  insufiiciency  only  the 
more  exalted  the  power  of  God,  who  sustained  him 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  Ill 

ill  his  trials,  chap.  iv. ;  giving  him  the  assurance 
of  a  habitation  in  heaven,  "  a  building  of  God,  a 
home  not  made  with  hands,"  so  that  impelled  by 
the  constraining  love  of  Christ,  he  cared  for 
nothing  save  to  be  a^jproved  of  Him,  whose  am- 
bassador he  was,  in  beseeching  men  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God,  chap.  v. 

The  true  character  of  his  ministry  was  attested 
by  his  sufferings,  through  which  his  love  for  the 
brethren  could  carry  him  even  joyfully,  while  the 
same  love  poured  itself  forth  in  earnest  entreaty 
to  avoid  all  worldly  and  dangerous  alliances,  cha^). 
vi. ;  and  it  had  been  kindled  to  a  warmer  glow  by 
the  favorable  account  of  their  affection  and  obedi- 
ence, communicated  by  Titus,  chap.  vii.  As  a 
proof  of  their  affection  and  repentance,,  he  exhorts 
them  to  imitate  the  example  of  their  Macedonian 
brethren  in  the  contribution  made  for  the  poor 
saints  of  Judea,  chap.  viii. ;  and  begs  them  to  jus- 
tify his  boasting  of  their  liberality,  chap.  ix.  He 
also  deplores  the  necessity  of  asserting  and  exer- 
cising his  apostolic  authority  and  power  against 
false  teachers  who  would  seduce  them  from  the 
gospel,  chap.  x. ;  apologizes  for  the  appearance  of 
self-commendation,  because  forced  to  contrast  his 
preaching  and  labors  with  the  arrogant  assump- 
tions of  these  false  teachers,  chap.  xi. ;  alludes  to 
a  remarkable  vision  he  had  enjoyed  more    than 


112  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

fourteen  years  before,  and  to  other  evidences  of 
his  apostleship,  chap.  xii. ;  and  closes  with  an 
announcement  that  he  would  vindicate  his  denied 
apostleship  in  the  condign  punishment  of  obdurate 
offenders. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  epistle  may  be  presented 
as  follows  :  First,  the  noble  anxiety  of  a  true  min- 
ister for  those  under  his  spiritual  care,  and  the 
certain  success  of  the  gospel  in  all  that  it  was  de- 
signed to  accomplish,  i.,  ii.  Second,  the  character- 
istic features  of  a  true  ministry  exhibited  (1)  in 
preaching  Christ  only,  (2)  in  the  accompanying 
energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  (3)  in  greatly  exalting 
the  word  of  God,  (4)  in  self-abasement,  (5)  in  meek 
endurance  of  afflictions  and  in  incessant  labors, 
(6)  in  assurance  of  faith  and  hope,  (7)  in  singleness 
of  aim,  ambitious  to  please  the  Lord  Jesus  alone, 
iii.-vii.  Third,  the  divine  principle  in  giving, 
which  requires  that  our  contributions  should  be 
voluntary  and  liberal,  viii.,  ix.  Fourth,  the  power 
of  true  ministry,  x.  Fifth,  the  courage  of  true 
ministry,  that  can  be  intimidated  by  no  danger,  xi. 
Sixth,  the  glory  that  is  to  be  revealed  hereafter,  and 
the  sufficiency  of  Christ's  grace  here,  enabling  His 
true  servants  to  take  pleasure  in  infirmities,  in 
reproaches,  in  necessities,  in  persecutions,  in  dis- 
tresses for  His  sake,  xii.  Seventh,  strength  in 
weakness,  xiii. 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  113 

THE  EPISTLE   TO   THE   GALATIANS. 

We  learn  from  the  inspired  history  that  the 
Apostle  twice  visited  Galatia,  a  central  province 
of  Asia  Minor,  whose  inhabitants  were  originally 
Gauls.  The  first  visit  was  during  the  progress 
of  his  second  missionary  tour,  (Acts  xvi.  6) ;  and 
the  second  was  some  years  later,  during  his  third 
missionary  journey,  when  he  '^went  overall  the 
country  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  in  order,  strength- 
ening all  the  disciples/'  (Acts  xviii.  23). 

The  message  which  he  communicated  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  the  church  of  Corinth  was  followed 
up  by  his  return  to  that  city,  in  order  to  correct 
personally  the  numerous  and  shocking  evils  into 
which  the  brethren  there  had  fallen.  His  heart 
must  have  been  burdened  with  much  anxiety  and 
sorrow,  as  he  threaded  his  way  among  the  pleas- 
ure seeking  crowds  on  the  streets,  and  thought  of 
the  delusive  and  dangerous  power  which  the  god 
of  this  world  had  gained  over  many  of  his  brethren, 
who  were  more  precious  to  him  than  his  heart's 
blood.  But  the  burden  must  have  been  heavier, 
when  he  heard  the  astounding  tidings  from  the 
churches  of  Galatia,  that  Judaizing  teachers  were 
at  work,  substituting  the  law  for  the  gospel,  and,  to 
effect  their  purpose,  undermining  his  influence,  by 
a  denial  of  his  apostolic  authority.    Accordingly 


114  BOOKS   OF   THE)   BIBLE. 

he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  the  epistle  before  us, 
probably  in  the  winter  of  57-58,  and  from  Corinih. 

It  was  his  habit  to  employ  an  amanuensis  ;  but 
so  deep  was  his  concern  for  the  condition  of  the 
Galatian  Christians,  he  departed  from  his  custom, 
and  says,  "  Ye  see  how  large  a;  letter  [literally, 
*with  what  large  letters,'  referring  to  their  size,. 
and  not  the  length  of  the  epistle]  I  have  written 
unto  you  with  mine  own  hand,"  (vi.  11).  This  may 
have  resulted  either  from  a  defective  vision,  as 
some  i^lausibly  suppose,  or  from  a  desire  to  give 
strong  emphasis  to  his  admonitions  and  entreaties. 
At  all  events  he  exhibits  more  solicitude  about  the 
false  doctrines  which  had  crept  in  among  the  Gala- 
tians,  than  he  does  about  the  evil  practices  in- 
dulged by  the  Corinthians.  It  is  quite  the  fashion 
in  these  days  to  say  that  it  matters  not  what  a 
man's  creed  may  be,  so  his  life  is  right.  But  the 
life  can  not  be  right  before  God,  unless  the  creed 
is  right ;  and  the  Apostle  keenly  felt,  as  every 
loyal  Christian  still  feels,  the  foul  dishonor  done 
to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  a  wrong  creed. 

Hence,  while  in  Eomans  he  proves  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ,  apart  from  the 
works  of  the  law,  in  Galatians  he  vindicates  the 
doctrine  against  ignorant  or  evil  minded  teachers, 
who  sought  to  bring  in  the  law  as  the  joint  means 
of  the  believer's  salvation.    First,  he  asserts  that 


BOOKS  OP  THE  BIBLE.  115 

he  had  received  his  commission  directly  from  the 
risen  Lord  Himself,  and  from  God  the  Father, 
enabling  him  to  act  independently  of  those  who 
were  apostles  before  him,  and  even  to  rebuke  them. 
He  had  graduated,  not  in  man's  theological  semi- 
nary, but  God's  ;  and  if  any  man,  or  an  angel  from 
heaven,  preached  any  other  gospel  to  them,  than 
he  had  preached,  and  they  had  received,  the  curse 
of  God  was  upon  him,  i.,  ii.  1-14. 

Second,  he  shows  that  the  law,  to  which  their 
false  teachers  sought  to  lead  them,  could  not  give 
(1)  justification;  (2)  nor  life ;  (3)  nor  love;  (4)  nor 
the  Spirit;  (5)  nor  redemption  ;  (6)  nor  the  inherit- 
ance ;  (7)  nor  the  relationship  to  God  of  children. 
In  this  connection  he  announces  that  "  as  many  as 
are  of  the  works  of  the  law,  are  under  the  curse.". 
Whoever,  that  is  to  say,  seeks  to  please  God  on 
the  do  principle,  instead  of  the  helieve  principle, 
which  sees  that  all  is  done,  is  under  the  curse. 
Men  were  justified  by  grace,  and  entered  into  a 
covenant  of  grace,  long  before  the  law  was  given, 
which,  at  best,  is  only  a  light  to  reveal  our  unclean- 
ness,  a  plumbline  to  prove  our  want  of  upright- 
ness, a  rule  to  exhibit  our  unevenness,  a  jailer  to 
shut  us  up  to  the  necessity  of  deliverance,  a  child- 
conductor,  (Kotherham  and  Young),  with  rod  in* 
hand,  to  keep  us  from  x^laying  truant  until  Christ 
came,  ii.  15-21  and  iii. 


116  BOOKS  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

Third,  The  liberty  of  full  grown  sons,  and  their 
war  with  that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh.  Those 
who  desired  to  go  back  to  the  law  for  justification 
were  like  men  wishing  to  return  to  infancy,  like 
freemen  preferring  to  become  bond-slaves,  and  to 
live  under  guardians  and  trustees,  rather  than  to 
exult  in  the  consciousness  of  mature  sonship,  and 
to  look  up  into  the  face  of  God  with  the  joyous 
cry,  "Abba,  Father.'^  The  bond  and  the  free  can 
have  no  fellowship,  any  more  than  could  Ishmael 
and  Isaac ;  and  in  the  use  of  this  unexpected 
"  allegory,'^  the  apostle  leaves  a  margin  for  the 
discovery,  if  not  of  types,  at  least  of  significant  and 
valuable  suggestions  of  spiritual  truth  in  all  of  the 
Old  Testament  narratives,  iv. 

Fourth,  the  absolute  necessity  of  standing  fast 
in  the  truth  and  liberty  and  grace  of  the  gospel, 
rejecting  every  temptation  to  be  justified  by  the 
law;  for  whosoever  is  justified  by  the  law  is  fallen 
from  grace,  and  this  is  the  only  kind  of  falling  from 
grace  the  Bible  knows  about.  The  Spirit  is 
received,  not  by  the  works  of  the  law,  but  by  the 
hearing  of  faith ;  and  practical  victory  over  in- 
dwelling evil  is  achieved  by  walking,  not  in  the 
flesh,  but  in  the  Spirit,  v. 

•  Fifth,  the  connection  is  then  most  appropriately 
shown  between  sowing  and  reaping  in  the  dealings 
of  God  with  men;   and  it  may  be  said   that  the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  117 

sacred  scrip  tares  from  beginning  to  end  are  de- 
signed to  set  forth  His  grace  and  government, 
vi.  1-13. 

Sixth,  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  the  only  ground 
of  glorying  for  the  new  creature,  as  it  alone  fully 
demonstrates  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  flesh 
and  the  world.  The  cross,  the  cross,  should  be 
the  battle  cry  and  battle  flag  of  every  believer, 
vi.  14-16. 

Seventh,  "  from  henceforth  let  no  man  trouble 
me  J  for  I  bear  in  my  body  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.''  The  Greek  word  here  is  stigma,  and  refers 
to  the  brands  which  the  master  put  upon  his  slave. 
Oh,  that  all  of  His  servants  might  covet  more 
earnestly,  and  display  more  fearlessly,  the  signs 
and  proofs  of  His  divine  and  blessed  ownership, 
vi.  17, 18. 

EPHESIANS. 

This  sublime  epistle  was  written  by  the  Holy 
Ohost  through  Paul,  probably  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  62.  The  Apostle  had  been  a  prisoner  in 
Eome  for  at  least  twelve  months,  and  while  there 
had  been  previously  led  by  the  Spirit  to  indite  the 
epistle  to  Philemon,  and  the  epistle  to  the  Colos- 
sians.  The  account  of  his  remarkable  labors  in 
Ephesus,  a  splendid  and  renowned  city  of  Asia 
Minor  near  the  sea  coast,  is  given  in  the  Acts  of 


lis  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  , 

the  Apostles.  There  we  learn  that  after  his  stay 
in  Corinth  for  a  year  and  six  months,  he  visited 
Ephesus  (Acts  xviii.  19-28),  and  after  a  brief 
sojourn  took  his  departure,  with  the  j^romise  of 
returning.  This  promise  he  fulfilled,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  third  missionary  journey,  and  remained 
"  by  the  space  of  two  years ;  so  that  all  they  which 
dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
both  Jews  and  Greeks,"  (Acts  xix.). 

The  effect  of  his  preaching  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  so  great,  that  the  idolatrous  wor- 
ship practiced  in  the  famous  temple  of  Diana  was 
threatened  with  extinction.  One  Demetrius,  who 
earned  his  living  by  the  sale  of  silver  shrines, 
brought  it  as  a  charge  against  him  in  a  public 
assembly,  "  that  not  alone  at  Ephesus,  but  almost 
throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath  persuaded  and 
turned  away  much  people,  saying  that  they  be  no 
gods,  which  are  made  with  hands  f  *'  so  mightily 
grew  the  word  of  God,  and  i)revailed.'^  The 
uproar  that  followed  caused  the  Apostle  to  depart 
into  Macedonia,  but  on  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem, 
"  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  the  elders  of  the 
church  "  to  meet  him  on  the  coast.  The  touching 
farewell  address  which  he  delivered  to  them  pre- 
sents a  lovely  i)ortrait  of  a  faithful  gospel  minister, 
and  can  scarcely  be  read  at  this  day  by  a  true 
Christian  without  tears,  (Acts  xx.  16-38). 


BOOKS    OF   THE  BIBLE.  119 

Then  came  the  arrest  in  Jerusalem,  the  two 
year's  imprisonment  in  Caesarea,  the  perilous  voy- 
age to  Eome,  the  confinement  there  for  more  than 
a  year,  awaiting  his  trial,  when  his  heart  was 
stirred  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  write  to  the  beloved 
Ephesians  in  the  loftiest  strains  of  divine  revela- 
tion. In  none  of  his  other  Epistles  does  he  soar  to 
such  heights,  or  make  known  such  wondrous  truth, 
showing  that  he  must  have  carried  their  thoughts 
over  a.  magnificent  range  in  his  preaching  to  them, 
and  that  they  had  been  prepared  by  the  diligent 
study  of  God's  word  for  the  unfolding  of  the  deep 
things  brought  to  view  in  the  epistle. 

Christ  the  measure  of  the  believer's  standing  and 
blessing,  is  the  general  subject,  or  as  it  may  be 
put  in  another  form,  Christ  in  the  believer,  the 
believer  in  Christ,  and  the  result  manifested  in  the 
daily  life.  The  expression,  "in  Christ,"  or  its 
equivalent  occurs  twenty-eight  times  in  the  first 
chapter,  and  this  is  the  key-note  to  the  epistle, 
which  may  be  divided  as  follows :  First,  God's 
eternal  and  electing  love  to  us  individually,  chap, 
i.  Second,  what  we  were  when  God  so  loved  us, 
chap.  ii.  Third,  God's  love  to  us  corporately, 
Christ  and  the  Church,  chap.  iii.  Fourth,  our 
walk  toward  the  Church  in  view  of  this  love  and 
unity,  -  chap.  iv.  1-16.  Fifth,  our  walk  toward 
Christ,  in  view  of  His  love  and  of  our  union  with 


120  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Him,  chap.  iv.  17-32  ;  v.  1-21.  Sixth,  the  relative 
duties  of  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  chil- 
dren, masters  and  servants,  springing  out  of  rela- 
tion to  Him,  chap.  v.  22-33 ;  vi.  1-9.  Seventh,  we 
are  to  maintain  our  high  standing,  clad  in  the 
panoply  of  God,  chap.  vi.  10-24. 

The  thoughts  that  crowd  upon  the  mind  in  the 
perusal  of  the  epistle  are  altogether  too  numerous 
and  too  great  for  utterance,  and  it  should  be  studied 
verse  by  verse,  and  word  by  word.  Thus  in  the 
first  chapter  we  have  election,  redemption,  inherit- 
ance, the  Spirit  as  the  seal,  as  the  earnest,  God's 
calling,  the  body  of  Christ ;  involving  His  sover- 
eign choice,  adoption,  our  acceptance,  forgiveness, 
hope,  resurrection,  and  reigning. 

In  the  second  chapter  we  have  our  death,  cap- 
tivity, misery,  guilt,  ruin,  helplessness,  and  low 
estate,  set  over  against  life,  liberty,  God's  mercy, 
grace,  love,  strength,  and  our  sitting  together  with 
Christ  in  the  heavenlies.  Gentile  sinners  are 
described  as  uncircumcised,  without  Christ,  aliens, 
strangers,  without  hope,  without  God  in  the  world ; 
but  believers  are  made  as  nigh  by  the  blood  of 
Cbrist  to  God  as  He  is,  for  He  is  so  entirely  our 
peace,  it  may  be  truly  said.  He  brought  it.  He 
made  it.  He  preached  it.  He  gives  it,  He  preserves 
it,  He  is  the  source  of  it,  He  is  the  channel  by 
which  it  is  conveyed. 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  121 

In  the  third  chapter  the  mystery  is  not  Christ, 
nor  the  Church,  but  Christ  and  the  Church,  which 
leads  the  Apostle  into  a  contemplation  of  His  love, 
that  is  like  an  ocean  without  a  bottom  and  without 
a  shore.  He  conducts  our  thoughts  into  infinity, 
and  abruptly  stops.  But  such  love  should  make 
manifest  the  unity  of  the  saints,  secure  their  per- 
sonal loyalty  and  holiness,  and  dignify  and  sanctify 
every  relation  of  life,  as  set  forth  in  the  remainder 
of  the  epistle. 

It  is  sad  to  know  that,  years  afterwards,  a 
church  honored  with  such  a  revelation  was  rebuked 
by  our  Lord,  because  it  had  left  its  first  love,  (Eev. 
ii.  1-7),  and  started  that  downward  course  of  the 
professing  Christian  body,  that  is  now  fast  hasten- 
ing to  a  shameful  and  melancholy  end.  The  can- 
dlestick has  long  been  removed  out  of  its  place  in 
Ephesus  ;  and  the  most  advanced  saint  will  walk 
in  darkness,  unless  he  keeps  his  eye  singly  and 
steadily  fixed  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

PHILIPPIANS. 

While  the  Apostle  was  still  a  prisoner  in  Eome, 
and  about  the  time  the  epistle  was  prepared  for 
the  Ephesians  and  perhaps  for  other  churches 
in  Asia  Minor,  he  was  led  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to    write    to    the    Philippians.      These   brethren 


122  BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

were  no  doubt  specially  near  to  his  heart,  for 
they  were  the  first  fruits  of  his  ministry  in  Europe. 
In  Acts  xvi.  we  have  an  exceedingly  interesting 
account  of  his  access  to  a  new  continent,  and  of  the 
trials  and  perils  through  which  he  fought  his  way, 
to  plant  the  banner  of  the  cross  in  the  face  of 
Grecian  culture  and  Roman  i)ower. 

Being  "  forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach 
the  word  in  Asia,"  he  ^'  assayed  to  go  into  Bithy- 
nia ;  but  the  Spirit  suffered  them  not ;"  and  while 
waiting  at  Troas,  "  a  vision  appeared  to  Paul  in 
the  night ;  There  stood  a  man  of  Macedonia,  and 
prayed  him,  saying,  Come  over  into  Macedonia, 
and  help  us.  And  after  he  had  seen  the  vision, 
immediately  we  endeavoured  to  go  into  Macedonia, 
assuredly  gathering  that  the  Lord  had  called  us 
for  to  preach  the  gospel  unto  them.'' 

The  first  convert  was  a  woman ;  "  and  when  she 
was  baptized,  and  her  household,"  he  became  her 
honored  guest.  But  on  his  way  to  prayer-meeting 
one  day,  he  and  his  companions  were  followed  by 
a  x^oor  girl  "  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  divination," 
who  kept  crying,  *^  These  men  are  the  servants  of 
the  most  high  God,  which  show  unto  us  the  way 
of  salvation."  The  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  pro- 
nounced in  faith,  expelled  the  demon  5  but  her 
masters,  seeing  that  the  hope  of  their  gains  was 
gone,  as  she  could  no  longer    engage  in  fortune 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  123 

telling,  had  Paul  and  Silas  arrested ;  "  and  the  magis- 
trates rent  oft'  their  clothes,  and  commanded  to 
beat  them.  And  when  they  had  laid  many  stripes 
upon  them,  they  cast  them  into  prison,  charging 
the  jailer  to  keep  them  safely :  who,  having 
received  such  a  charge,  thrust  them  into  the  inner 
prison,  and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks." 

It  was  just  here  the  two  happy  believers  exer- 
cised the  office  of  "  a  holy  priesthood,"  for  they 
"  prayed,  and  sang  praises  unto  God :  and  the 
prisoners  heard  them."  It  was  just  here  too  they 
exercised  the  office  of  "  a  royal  priesthood,"  for  the 
terrified  jailer  was  soon  at  their  feet  with  the  anx- 
ious inquiry,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  And 
they  said,  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
thou  Shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house."  The  same 
hour  he  "  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  straight- 
way," and  brought  them  into  his  house,  and  served 
them  at  his  table,  "  and  rejoiced,  believing  in  God 
with  all  his  house." 

Several  years  had  passed  since  that  eventful 
night,  and  he  wrote  to  his  beloved  brethren  from  a 
prison,  but  still  rejoicing  as  of  old  in  the  grace  that 
was  always  sufficient  for  him.  Indeed  it  is  pecu- 
liarly the  epistle  of  joy,  for  the  words  joy  and 
rejoice  occur  in  it  eighteen  times,  and  the  word  sin 
not  once.  Yet  it  is  the  very  epistle  in  which  salva- 
tion in  its  fullest  sense  is  looked  at  as  still  in  the 


124  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

future,  for  it  is  to  be  completed  at  the  second 
coming  of  Christ.  Even  before  the  goal  is  reached, 
therefore,  the  runners  may  pursue  their  course  with 
a  gladness  of  heart  that  grows  brighter  and  brighter, 
as  they  ai)proach  nearer  and  nearer  the  end. 

The  following  titles  of  the  various  chapters  have 
been  suggested  as  appropriately  expressing  their 
leading  thoughts  :  Christ  the  believer's  life^  chap, 
i. ;  Christ  the  believer's  pattern^  chap.  ii. ;  Christ 
the  believer's  object,  chap.  iii. ;  Christ  the  believer's 
strength,  chap.  iv.  But  perhaps  a  better  analysis 
would  be,  The  gospel,  and  Christ  the  theme,  chap, 
i.;  Humility,  and  Christ  the  pattern,  chap.  ii. ; 
Earnestness,  and  Christ  the  object,  chap.  iii. ; 
Peacefulness,  and  Christ  the  strength,  chaj).  iv. 

In  chap,  first  the  inspired  writer  announces  his 
confidence  that  He  which  had  begun  a  good  work 
in  them  would  perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  yet  this  was  not  inconsistent  with  their 
solicitude  in  working  out  their  own  salvation.  He 
also  longs  after  them  all  "  in  the  tender  heart  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  as  Alford  renders  it,  and  is  sure 
that  everything  which  had  befallen  him  would 
turn  to  his  salvation  through  their  prayer,  and  the 
supply  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  word  sup- 
ply referring  to  the  Choregus  among  the  Greeks, 
who  was  responsible  to  furnish  all  needed  refresh- 
ments to  the  choir.     Christ  was  so  entirely  his  life, 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  125 

he  longed  to  depart  and  be  witli  Him,  and  unto 
them  it  was  given  in  His  behalf,  not  only  to  believe 
on  Him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  His  sake. 

In  chap,  second  the  example  of  Christ  in 
humility  is  commended;  and  the  working  out  of 
their  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  is  in 
view  of  the  Apostle's  absence,  casting  them  in 
entire  dependence  upon  God,  who  was  working 
in  them.  Hence  they  were  to  work  out  what  He 
worked  in,  and  this  explains  their  constant  joy. 

In  chap,  third  Christians  are  described  as  those 
who  worship  God  in,  or  by,  the  Spirit,  and  rejoice 
in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  the 
flesh,  flinging  from  them  with  disgust  their  own 
righteousness,  and  pressing  on  with  Singleness  of 
heart  and  of  aim  to  lay  hold  of  that  for  which  they 
had  been  laid  hold  of  by  Christ  Jesus,  doing  the 
one  thing  of  seeking  to  attain  unto  the  out-resur- 
rection, that  one  from  among  the  dead,  and  waiting 
for  the  personal  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
from  heaven.  Surely  there  would  be  more  of  this 
eager  looking  and  watching,  if  believers  felt  now, 
as  they  felt  then,  that  our  citizenship  is  not  here, 
but  in  heaven. 

In  chap,  fourth  the  Lord  is  viewed,  according  to 
heaven's  mode  of  reckoning,  as  at  hand,  for  accord- 
ing to  this  reckoning  He  has  not  been  absent  two 
days ;  the  secret  of  peace  is  revealed,  careful  for 


12G  BOOKS   OF  THE.  BIBLE. 

nothing,  prayerful  in  everything,  thankful  for  any- 
thing ;  the  believer  is  able  to  do  ail  things  through 
Christ  which  strengtheneth  him ;  and  God  shall 
supply  all  his  need,  not  all  he  wants,  according, 
not  to  his  need,  nor  to  his  asking,  nor  even  to  his . 
faith,  but  according  to  His  own  unsearchable  riches 
in  glory  by  Christ  Jesus. 

COLOSSIANS. 

There  are  many  points  of  resemblance  between 
this  epistle  and  that  to  the  Ephesians,  written 
from  Eome  at  about  the  same  time,  and  sent  by 
the  hands  of  the  same  messenger,  (Eph.  vi. 
21,  22  ;  Col.'iv.  7,  8).  But  there  are  also  points  of 
difference  that  will  not  escape  the  attention  of  the 
careful  reader.  The  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  tells 
us  that  we  are  Christ's  fulness,  (Eph.  i.  23),  the 
epistle  to  the  Colossians  that  He  is  our  fulness, 
(Col.  ii.  10) ;  the  former  that  we  are  in  Him,  (i.  3), 
the  latter  that  He  is  in  us,  (Col.  i.  27) ;  the  former 
is  largely  occupied  about  the  body,  the  Church, 
and  the  latter  about  the  Head,  Christ. 

Conybeare  and  Howson  in  their  valuable  Life  of 
St.  Paul  i^resent  two  extended  tables  of  resem- 
blances between  the  epistles,  and  add  in  foot  note, 
**  From  the  first  of  the  above  tables  it  will  be  seen, 
that  there  is  scarcely  a  single  topic  in  the  Ephesian 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  127 

Epistle  which  is  not  also  to  be  found  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  that 
there  is  an  important  section  of  Colossians  (ii.  8-23) 
which  has  no  parallel  in  Ephesians.  From  the 
second  table  it  appears,  that  out  of  the  155  verses 
contained  in  the  so-called  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
78  verses  contain  expressions  identical  with  those 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  The  kind  of 
resemblance  here  traced  is  not  that  which  would  be 
found  in  the  work  of  a  forger,  servilely  copying  the 
Epistle  to  Colossse.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  just 
what  we  might  expect  to  find  in  the  work  of  a  man 
whose  mind  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  ideas 
and  expressions  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians 
when  he  wrote  the  other  Epistle." 

But  it  was  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  brings  out  both 
the  resemblances  and  the  differences  of  the  two 
epistles,  and  therefore  in  both  we  have  needed 
truth,  expressed  in  precisely  the  proper  form.  In 
the  latter  He  shows,  first,  what  the  Lord  has  done 
for  us,  and  who  He  is.  Here  we  learn  that  it  is  the 
privilege  of  believers  to  give  thanks  unto  the 
Father,  "  which  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers 
of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light :  who  hath 
delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  hath 
translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son;  in 
whom  we  hays  redemption  through  his  blood." 
This  dear  Son  is  then  declared  to  be  divine,  truly, 


128  BOOKS  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

fully,  absolutely  divine ;  and  the  testimony  is  so 
clear  and  complete  that  it  settles  the  question  for- 
ever with  every  one  who  is  subject  to  the  word  of 
God,  i.  1-18. 

The  second  section  shows  what  we  were,  when 
God  made  peace  through  the  blood  of  His  cross,  and 
for  what  the  mystery  has  been  manifested.  We 
often  hear  that  such  and  such  a  person,  especially 
if  dying,  made  his  peace  with  God;  but  the  already 
condemned  sinner  is  in  no  condition  to  make  peace. 
God  made  it,  and  preaches  it  through  the  gospel 
to  every  one  that  believeth ;  and  is  now  making 
known  what  is  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mys- 
tery among  the  Gentiles ;  which  is  Christ  in  us,  the 
hope  of  glory,  i.  19-29. 

Third,  the  inspired  writer  then  expresses  the 
most  intense  desire  that  this  mystery  may  be  prac- 
tically understood,  "  wherein  [margin]  are  hid  all 
the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.''  But  as 
the  mystery  is  Christ  in  us,  the  hope  of  glory,  it  is 
equally  true  that  in  Him  are  hid  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  Hence  the  earnest 
exhortation  to  believers,  that  as  they  have  received 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  we  are  not  only  to  walk 
in  Him,  but  to  be  rooted  and  built  up  in  Him, 
ii.  1-7. 

Fourth,  this  is  followed  by  the  most  solemn 
warning  against  rationalism  and  ritualism,  or  a 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  129 

reliance  for  salvation  upon  the  observance  of  relig- 
ious rites  and  ecclesiastical  ordinances.  We  are 
complete  In  Christ,  and  do  not  need  the  wisdom 
and  philosophy  of  this  world  to  understand  the 
gospel,  nor  ceremonial  worship,  however  attractive 
and  imposing,  to  render  our  salvation  more  secure. 
We  are  buried  together  with  Him,  quickened 
together  with  Him,  risen  together  with  Him,  and 
the  result  is  that  God  has  already  forgiven  us  all 
trespasses,  or  as  the  word  means,  "  every  thing 
about  the  fall.'^  Hence  we  are  to  stand  aloof  from 
philosophy,  and  legalism,  and  asceticism,  and  curi- 
ous speculations  about  the  unseen  world,  and  confi- 
dence in  feast  and  fast  days,  adopting  as  our  maxim 
with  regard  to  all  such  things,  "  Touch  not ;  taste 
not;  handle  not,''  ii.  8-23. 

Fifth,  How  we  should  walk  as  dead  and  risen 
with  Christ.  He  is  so  completely  our  life  it  may 
be  said,  By  Him  we  live,  as  Creator  of  all  things ; 
From  Him  we  live,  as  the  source  of  our  spiritual 
and  everlasting  life ;  Through  Him  we  live,  as  the 
channel  for  the  transmission  of  God's  wondrous 
grace  and  love ;  In  Him  we  live,  as  united  to  Him 
and  identified  with  Him  in  all  His  work  of  redemp- 
tion ;  Under  Him  we  live,  as  our  rightful  and  recog- 
nized Lord ;  For  Him  we  live,  as  the  one  supreme 
object  in  view ;  and  With  Him  we  live  here  and 
hereafter.    Because  He  is  our  life,   and   at    His 

9 


130  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

second  appearing  we  shall  surely  appear  with  Him 
in  the  glory,  we  are  to  make  a  corpse  of  our  mem- 
bers which  are  upon  the  earth  j  and  whatsoever  we 
do,  to  do  all  in  His  name,  giving  thanks  unto  God 
and  the  Father  by  Him,  iii.  1-17. 

Sixth,  relative  duties  of  husbands  and  wives, 
parents  and  children,  masters  and  servants,  all  of 
whom  may  live  in  abiding  j^eace,  and  in  mutual 
helpfulness  and  love,  if  they  will  keep  Christ  con- 
stantly before  them,  and  learn  to  do,  and  to  endure, 
for  His  sake.  He  can  sweeten  the  bitterest  cup, 
and  dignify  the  lowliest  lot,  iii.  18-25;  iv.  1. 

Seventh,  personal  exhortations  and  Christian 
salutations,  among  which  we  learn  that  Onesimus, 
a  runaway  slave,  was  returned  to  his  master  in 
Colossse  with  Tychicus  as  his  companion  and 
brother.  We  also  learn  that  there  were  many  dear 
servants  of  the  Lord  sharing  the  labors,  the  sor- 
rows, and  the  joys  of  Paul's  prison  life,  iv.  2-18. 

FIRST  AND  SECOND  THESSALONIANS. 

These  are  the  first  of  the  fourteen  epistles  dic- 
tated by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  apostle  Paul. 
They  were  both  written  from  Corinth,  the  former 
toward  the  close  of  the  year  52  A.  D.,  or  early  in 
the  year  53,  and  the  latter  a  few  months  later.  But 
they  are  appropriately  placed  in  the  Bible  as  the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  131 

last  of  the  seven  epistles  to  the  Gentile  churches, 
because  they  are  chiefly  filled  with  "  the  last 
things,"  or  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

Conybeare  and  Howson  in  their  very  interesting 
and  iustructive  "  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul," 
although  ignorant  of  the  truth  of  Christ's  j)remil- 
lennial  advent,  truly  say,  *'  The  royal  state  of 
Christ's  second  advent  was  one  chief  topic  which 
was  urgently  enforced,  and  deeply  impressed,  on 
the  minds  of  the  Thessalonian  converts.  This  sub- 
ject tinges  the  whole  atmosphere  through  which  the 
aspect  of  this  church  is  presented  to  us.  It  may 
be  said  that  in  each  of  the  primitive  churches, 
which  are  depicted  in  the  apostolic  epistles,  there 
is  some  peculiar  feature  which  gives  it  an  individual 
character.  .  .  .  And  if  we  were  asked  for  the 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  first  Christians 
of  Thessalonica,  we  should  i:>oint  to  their  over- 
whelming sense  of  the  nearness  of  the  second  ad- 
vent, accompanied  with  melancholy  thoughts  con- 
cerniDg  those  who  might  die  before  it,  and  with 
gloomy  and  unpractical  views  of  the  shortness  of 
life,  and  the  vanity  of  the  world.  Each  chapter  in 
the  first  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  ends  with  an 
allusion  to  this  subject,  and  it  was  evidently  the 
topic  of  frequent  conversations,  when  the  Apostle 
was  in  Macedonia." 

Yet  the  same  authors  inform  us  that,  notwith- 


132  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

standing  the  "  melancholy  thoughts,"  and  "gloomy 
and  unpractical  views  of  the  shortness  of  life,"  the 
congregation  of  believers  at  Thessalonica  was  cele- 
brated for  hundreds  of  years  as  "  the  Orthodox 
Church,"  famous  for  sound  doctrine,  famous  for 
purity  of  life,  famous  for  missionary  zeal,  famous 
as  a  bright  light  shining  through  surrounding  dark- 
ness. Within  the  past  few  years  quite  a  good-sized 
book  has  been  written  and  published  to  show  that 
the  Thessalonians  constituted  the  "  Model  Church." 
Is  there  no  connection  between  the  "  Orthodox 
Church,"  the  "  Model  Church,"  with  its  "  melan- 
choly thoughts,"  with  its  "  gloomy  and  unpractical 
views,"  and  the  coming  of  the  Lord  as  the  great 
incentive  to  fidelity  and  earnestness  ? 

However  this  may  be,  no  one  can  fail  to  see  that 
the  subject  which  occupied  the  mind  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  first  epistle  addressed  to  believers,  was 
the  second  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is 
mentioned  in  every  chapter  of  both  epistles,  in  one 
verse  out  of  every  five,  and  in  every  instance,  un- 
less in  2  Thess.  ii.  8,  it  is  not  denied  by  expositors 
of  any  class  or  school  of  interpretation,  that  the 
coming  is  literal,  personal,  and  bodily.  .  Is  it  not 
unspeakably  humiliating  and  painful  that  the  doc- 
trine which  furnished  the  basis  of  all  argument,  the 
point  of  all  appeal,  the  motive  to  all  exhortation, 
the  stimulus  to  all  activity,  has  dropped  out  of  the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  133 

faith  of  most  preachers  and  Christians,  as  if  it  were 
worthy  only  of  contempt  ?  But  so  the  predictioDs 
of  these  forgotten  epistles  are  fulfilled  before  our 
eyes. 

From  the  word  of  God  we  learn  that  the  Apostle 
laboured  at  Thessalonica  but  three  weeks,  when  he 
was  driven  away  by  a  mob  of  Jews,  and  "  certain 
lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  (Acts  xvii.  1-10). 
He  may  have  remained  a  little  longer,  but  the  in- 
spired record  mentions  only  "  three  sabbath  days." 
Yet  this  was  long  enough  for  him  to  teach  them  the 
truth  concerning  the  coming  and  kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ,  for  he  afterwards  wrote  to  them,  '*  Eemem- 
ber  ye  not,  that,  when  I  was  yet  with  you,  I  told 
you  these  things?"  (2  Thess.  ii.  5).  He  had, 
therefore,  been  diligent,  through  a  three  weeks' 
meeting,  to  instruct  them  concerning  the  second 
advent  of  Christ,  and  the  direful  apostacy  which 
will  occur  previous  to  His  personal  manifestation 
on  the  earth. 

The  difference  between  the  two  epistles  may  be 
described  in  a  single  word :  *'  Christ  coming  for  His 
saints  "  is  the  subject  of  the  first ;  *'  Christ  appear- 
ing ivitJi  His  saints"  is  the  proper  title  of  the 
second.  In  the  former  he  describes  the  Thessalo- 
nian  converts,  of  whom  Gentile  believers  formed 
the  larger  part,  as  having  "  turned  to  God  from 
idols,  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God,  and  to  wait 


134  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

for  his  Son  from  heaven,  whom  he  raised  from 
the  dead,  Jesus,  which  delivered  us  from  the  wrath 
to  come,"  (1  Thess.  i.  9, 10).  He  also  confidently 
expects  to  meet  his  brethren  *'  in  the  presence  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming,"  (1  Thess.  ii. 
19).  Hence  he  prays  to  his  ascended  Lord,  "  to  the 
end  he  may  stablish  your  hearts  unblameable  in 
holiness  before  God,  even  our  Father,  at  the  com- 
ing of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  his  saints," 
(1  Thess.  iii.  13).  They  need  not  therefore  be  in 
distress  concerning  their  believing  friends  who  had 
fallen  asleep,  for  "  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus 
will  God  bring  with  him."  We  which  are  alive, 
and  remain  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not 
precede  the  sleeping  ones,  but  they  shall  have  the 
first  place  of  honor.  Then  when  they  come  forth 
from  the  grave  in  response  to  His  shout,  intended 
only  for  their  ears,  we  which  are  alive  and  remain, 
shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them  in  clouds,  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  (1  Thess.  iv.  13-18). 

Hence  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  times  and 
seasons,  for  they  knew  perfectly,  because  the  Apos- 
tle had  carefully  instructed  them  during  his  three 
weeks'  meeting,  that  **  the  day  of  the  Lord  so  com- 
eth  as  a  thief  in  the  night."  That  great  and  terri- 
ble day  will  come  as  a  thief  upon  the  unbelieving 
world  ;  *'  but  ye,  brethren,"  he  adds,  "  are  not  in 
darkness,  that  that  day  should  overtake  ifou  as  a 


BOOKS   OF  THE  .BIBLE,  135 

thief.  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  light,  and  the 
children  of  the  day  :  we  are  not  of  the  night,  nor 
of  darkness."  All  his  anxiety  about  them  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  one  longing  cry,  "  The  very  God  of 
peace  sanctify  you  wholly ;  and  I  pray  God  your 
whole  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  p're served  blame- 
less unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'' 
(1  Thess.  V.  1-6,  23). 

The  second  epistle  treats  largely  of  the  appear- 
ing of  the  Lord  with  His  saints,  when  He  "  shall  be 
revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in 
flaming  fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know 
not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  (2  Thess.  i.  7-10).  But  a  rumor  pre- 
vailed among  the  Thessalonian  believers  that  He 
had  already  come,  leaving  them  out  of  His  prom- 
ised kingdom,  (1  Thess.  ii.  12;  2  Thess.  i.  5);  and 
*'  those  who  encouraged  this  delusion,"  as  Cony- 
beare  and  Howson  well  say,  "  supported  it  by  im- 
aginary revelations  of  the  Spirit ;  and  they  even 
had  recourse  to  forgery,  and  circulated  a  letter  pur- 
porting to  be  written  by  St.  Paul,  in  confirmation 
of  their  views."  Consequently  the  Apostle  reminds 
them,  not  that  the  coming  of  Christ  is  not  at  hand, 
but  that  tlie  day  of  the  Lord  is  not  at  hand,  or,  as 
every  critical  expositor  on  the  face  of  the  earth  ad- 
mits it  ought  to  be  rendered,  "  is  present,"  or,  "  is 
come." 


136  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

He  tells  them  that  "  that  day  shall  not  come, 
except  there  come  a  falling  away  first  [Greek,  the 
apostacy],  and  that  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son 
of  perdition ;  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself 
above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped; 
so  that  he  as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God, 
showing  himself  that  he  is  God."  Even  in  the 
Apostle's  day  "  the  mystery  of  iniquity "  was 
already  at  work,  only  the  hinderer  to  its  full 
developement,  the  Holy  Ghost,  stayed  its  progress, 
until  the  Hinderer  shall  be  taken  out  of  the  way  ; 
"and  then  shall  that  Wicked  [onej  be  revealed, 
whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit 
[breath,  Isa.  xi.  4]  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  de- 
stroy with  the  brightness  [elsewhere  translated 
appearing]  of  his  coming  [translated  presence  in 
2  Cor.  X.  10;  Phil.  ii.  12],  (2  Thess.  ii.  1-12). 

It  is  of  interest  to  know  that  the  city  of  Thessa- 
lonica  was  named  after  a  sister  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  by  her  husband  Cassander,  out  of  whose 
dominion,  in  all  probability,  the  Antichrist  of  the 
last  days  shall  arise,  (Dan.  viii.  21-25).  Men  talk 
and  write  learnedly  of  evolution ;  and  there  shall 
surely  be  a  complete  evolution  of  the  tremendous 
evil  introduced  by  the  fall  of  Adam,  until  the 
boasted  culture  of  the  age  shall  be  developed  into 
that  Wicked,  and  "  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth 
shall  worship  him,  whose  names  are  not  written  in 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.                         137  | 

J 

the  book  of  life  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  founda-  j 

tion  of  the  world,"  (Eev.   xiii.  8).     May  the  Lord  ! 

direct  our  "  hearts  into  the  love  of  God,  and  into  i 

the  patient  waiting  for  Christ,"  (2  Thess.  iii.  5).  \ 

■j 

FIEST  AND   SECOND   TIMOTHY.  j 

t 

According  to   Clement,   Ensebius,  Chrysostom,  | 

Jerome,   and,   it  may  be  added,  the  whole  of  the  \ 

early  Church,  the  devoted  Apostle  was  acquitted  i 

of  the  charges  brought  against  him,  and  released  ; 

from    his    long    imprisonment,    at  his  first    trial  ; 

before    Nero.     These   authorities    also  inform  us  j 

that  he  immediately  resumed  his  missionary  work  | 
for  the  Master  he  loved  so  well,  and  journeyed 

as  far  west  as   Spain,  preaching  the  glad  tidings  \ 
wherever  he    went.     It   appears,    however,  from 

the  inspired    record,    that  he  first    directed    his  i 
way  eastward,  and  finding  that  his  sad  i^rophecy 
to  the  Ephesian  elders  (Acts  xx.  29,  30)  was  already 

fulfilled,  he  left  Timothy  with    their   church   to  I 

strengthen  the  things  that  remained.  I 

Such  was  the  occasion  of  the  first  of  the  personal 

epistles,  written  probably  from  Macedonia  toward  | 

the  latter  part  of  the  year  65,  or  early  in  the  year  : 
66  of  our  Lord.     It  is   a  remarkable  fact  that  the 
inspired  writer  turns    in  his    last    epistles  from 
addressing  churches  to  individuals,  as  if  in  the  last 


138  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

days  only  one  here  and  another  there*  will  be  found 
to  receive  the  messages  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is 
also  remarkable  that  in  the  epistles  to  Timothy 
and  Titus,  he  invokes  "  grace,  mercy,  and  peace, 
from  God  our  Father  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,'^ 
whereas  in  the  epistles  to  the  seven  churches  pre- 
viously addressed,  he  leaves  out  the  word  mercy  in 
his  invocation.  The  church  viewed  as  a  whole  has 
an  unchangeable  standing  before  God  in  the  heaven- 
lies,  having  already  received  mercy,  while  the  indi- 
vidual in  his  personal  failures,  and  in  the  midst  of 
failures,  still  needs  the  compassion  of  our  Saviour- 
God  for  the  wretched. 

The  church  at  Ephesus  was  in  much  confusion 
when  the  Apostle  was  led  by  the  Spirit  to  address 
his  son  Timothy.  Ceremonialism,  foolish  ques- 
tions., vain  jangling,  legalism,  and  even  the  putting 
away  of  faith  and  a  good  conscience  on  the  part  of 
some,  had  taken  the  place  of  the  sublime  doctrmes 
set  forth  in  the  epistle  they  had  previously 
received.  This  called  for  the  exercise  of  discipline, 
and  it  was  administered  hj  one  who  speaks  of  him- 
self as  the  chief  of  sinners,  chap.  i. 

This  state  of  things  had  introduced  disorder 
touching  their  relations  to  civil  rulers,  and  the 
women  were  leaving  their  proper  place  of  subjec- 
tion to  teach,  and  to  usurp  authority  over  the  man. 
All  of  this  is  contrary  to  the  mind  of  God,  chap.  ii. 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  131> 

The  offices  and  characteristics  of  Bishops  and 
Deacons  are  then  defined  and  explained,  as  vitally 
affecting  the  welfare  of  the  church,  "  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth,"  the  Jachin  and  Boaz  stand- 
ing before  the  spiritual  temple  of  God,  and  respon- 
sible to  uphold  and  maintain  the  truth  at  all 
hazards.  The  special  truth  to  be  sacredly  guarded 
relates  to  the  incarnation,  the  divinity,  the  media- 
torial work  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  sole  object  of 
faith,  and  the  only  Lord  of  the  conscience,  chap.  iii. 

But  "  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly  that  in  the 
latter  times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving 
heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils } 
speaking  lies  in  hyi30crisy;  having  their  con- 
science seared  with  a  hot  iron ;"  and  then  follows 
an  accurate  description  of  the  Eomish  apostacy^ 
These  latter  times  refer  to  the  middle  ages,  and 
they  will  develope  into  something  worse,  as  shown 
in  the  next  epistle.  Hence  the  only  safety  for  any 
minister  of  the  gospel  is  to  take  heed,  first  to  him- 
self, and  second  to  his  doctrine,  chap.  iv. 

Then  comes  the  order  of  God's  house  again 
touching  old  men  and  women,  widows,  young 
widows,  ruling  elders  ;  and  as  Timothy  was  tired 
and  worn  with  so  much  care  and  labor,  and  his 
health  was  failing  him,  it  is  comforting  to  notice 
the  tender  solicitude  of  the  Holy  Ghost  about  Hi& 
faithful  servant,  directing  him   to  drink  no  longer 


14:0  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

water,  but  to  use  a  little  wine.  Timothy's  habitual 
temperance  was  still  preserved,  for  it  was  a  little 
wine  only  as  a  medicine,  chap.  v. 

This  is  followed  by  exhortations  to  servants  to 
render  faithful  and  conscientious  service,  to  the 
poor  to  be  content  with  their  lot,  and  to  the 
rich  to  take  heed  how  they  employ  the  property 
God  had  given  them,  if  they  would  lay  up  in  store 
for  themselves  a  good  foundation  against  the  time 
to  come.  It  is  a  striking  fact  that  the  epistle 
closes  with  a  solemn  and  tender  warning  against 
the  "  oppositions  of  science  falsely  so-called,'' 
which  some  professing  erred  concerning  the  faith 
in  that  day,  as  they  do  in  this,  chap.  vi. 

The  second  epistle  is  the  last  written  by  the  be- 
loved apostle,  and  it  possesses  all  the  interest 
which  gathers  about  the  farewell  message  of  a 
dying  father  to  his  son.  It  obviously  reaches  on, 
not  only  to  the  latter  times,  as  in  the  former  epistle, 
but  to  the  last  days,  when  something  worse  than 
the  Eomish  apostacy  will  come;  for  apostate 
Christendom  will  get  back  to  ancient  heathenism, 
as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  2  Tim.  iii.  1-8,  with 
Kom.  1.  21-32.  Hence  the  Apostle  seeks  to  stir  up 
Timothy,  who  seems  to  have  been  alarmed  and  dis- 
<;ouraged  by  the  turning  away  of  all  Asia  from  the 
servant  of  the  Lord,  even  then  awaiting  death, 
chaj).  i. 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  141 

This  is  followed  by  an  exhortation  which  is  of 
special  value  at  a  time  when  the  professing  body 
is  almost  in  ruins  ;  for  it  lays  upon  the  conscience 
and  heart  a  powerful  motive  to  fidelity,  and  exhibits 
both  sides  of  God's  seal,  showing  the  necessity  of 
uncompromising  firmness  in  separation  from  all 
that  dishonors  the  Lord  Jesus,  chap.  ii. 

The  only  safeguard  amid  the  perilous  times  of 
the  last  days  is  a  strong  hold  upon  the  truth  of  the 
verbal  inspiration  of  all  scripture,  refusing  to  yield 
the  conviction  of  this  truth,  even  if  called  to  stand 
entirely  alone  in  maintaining  the  absolute  authority 
of  God's  word,  chap.  iii. 

The  closing  warning  is  a  most  earnest  charge,  in 
view  of  our  Lord's  appearing  and  kingdom,  to 
preach  the  word,  with  a  distinct  prediction  of  what 
is  going  on  around  us  now,  in  the  refusal  of  men  to 
endure  sound  doctrine,  but  after  their  own  lusts 
heai:)ing  to  themselves  teachers,  having  itching 
ears,  turning  away  their  ears  from  the  truth,  and 
turning  unto  fables.  But  for  the  old  and  tried 
apostle  a  crown  of  righteousness  was  in  store,  and 
he  dei^arts  with  the  shout  of  victory  on  his  lips, 
although  forsaken  of  men. 

Paul  the  prisoner,  and  Timothy  aroused,  chap.  i. 
Paul  the  soldier,  and  Timothy  encouraged,  chap.  ii. 
Paul  the  witness,  and  Timothy  warned,  chap.  iii. 
Paul  the  martyr,  and  Timothy  charged,  chap.  iv. 


142  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 


TITUS. 


The  name  of  this  servant  of  the  Lord  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  all 
that  we  know  of  him  is  gathered  from  the  in- 
spired epistles.  He  is  referred  to,  however,  in 
terms  of  warm  commendation  in  2  Cor.  ii.  13 ;  vii. 
6,  7, 13-15  ;  viii.  6,  16-23 ;  xii.  18.  In  another  placs 
we  learn  that  he  was  for  a  time  at  least  the  Apos 
tie's  travelling  companion,  and  that,  being  a  Greek. 
Paul  refused  to  have  him  circumcised,  in  order  that 
the  freedom  of  Gentile  believers  from  the  law  might 
be  vindicated  and  maintained  at  all  hazards,  Gal. 
ii.  1-5. 

It  appears  that  the  epistle  addressed  to  him  was 
written  during  the  time  that  elapsed  between  the 
two  epistles  to  Timothy.  As  the  latter  had  been 
left  in  Ephesus  to  uphold  the  truth,  which  even 
then  was  assailed  by  the  pride  and  perversity  of 
man,  so  Titus  had  been  left  in  the  island  of  Crete 
to  "  set  in  order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  and 
ordain  elders  in  every  city."  It  is  the  Apostle's 
testimony  that  there  too  there  were  ''  many  unruly 
and  vain  talkers  and  deceivers,  specially  they  of 
the  circumcision  :  whose  mouths  must  be  stopped  j 
who  subvert  whole  houses,  teaching  things  which 
they  ought  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake.  One  of 
themselves,  even  a  p>rophet  of  their  own,  said.  The 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  143 

Oretians  are  alway  liars,  evil  beasts,  slow  bellies," 
i,  10-12. 

Amid  the  insti'uctions  given  about  bishops,  old 
men  and  women,  young  men  and  women,  it  is  com- 
forting to  notice  that  one  of  the  finest  passages  in 
the  Bible  springs  out  of  an  allusion  to  despised 
slaves.  *'  For  the  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  sal- 
vation hath  appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  us,  that, 
denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should 
live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  present 
world;  looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the 
glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  who  gave  himself  for  us, 
that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and 
purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of 
good  works,'^  ii.  11-14.  Grace  first  saves,  then 
teaches,  then  holds  out  as  the  hope  of  the  believer 
the  coming  of  the  Lord ;  and  as  the  Apostle  adds, 
"these  things  speak,"  it  is  obvious  that  the 
preacher  who  never  speaks  of  Christ's  second  ad- 
vent disobeys  the  apostolic  injunction. 

The  relation  of  faith  to  good  works  is  also  clearly 
stated  in  this  important  ei)istle.  "After  that  the 
kindness  and  love  [margin,  pity]  of  God  our 
Saviour  toward  man  appeared,  not  by  works  of 
righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according 
to  his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regen- 
eration, and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  he 


144  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

shed  on  us  abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Saviour;  that,  being  justified  by  his  grace,  we 
should  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of 
eternal  life."  Our  good  works,  then,  have  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  cause  of  our  salvation,  but 
they  are  the  necessary  consequence  of  our  accept- 
ance wholly  by  grace.  "  This  is  a  faithful  saying, 
and  these  things  I  will  that  thou  affirm  constantly, 
that  they  which  have  believed  in  God  might  be 
careful  to  maintain  good  works.  These  things  are 
good  and  i^rofitable  unto  men,''  iii.  5-8.  First 
faith,  and  then  works  ;  not  first  works,  and  then 
faith  ;  nor  faith  and  works,  but  faith  followed  by 
works. 

PHILEMON. 

This  little  epistle  is  very  sweet,  because  it  shows 
the  tender  interest  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  a  poor 
slave.  There  is  an  intimation  that  he  had  robbed 
his  master,  a  Christian  named  Philemon,  belonging 
to  the  Colossian  Church,  and  then  that  he  ran  away. 
The  fugitive  slave  and  thief  turned  up  at  length  in 
Eome,  during  the  apostle's  first  imprisonment;  and 
it  is  a  significant  comment  upon  Paul's  preaching, 
that  such  a  man  either  desired,  or  was  induced,  to 
hear  him. 

We  know  not  whether  curiosity,  or  the  demands 
of  his  own  conscience,  or  the  longings  of  his  heart, 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE„  145 

or  the  kind  invitation  of  some  Christian,  led  him  to 
attend  the  ministry  of  the  Apostle;  but  we  do 
know  that  the  grace  of  God  which  bringeth  salva- 
tion to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  appeared 
to  Onesimus  in  converting  and  sanctifying  power. 
He  became  a  saved  man ;  but  the  Apostle  would 
not  violate  the  law,  and  wrong  his  master,  by 
keeping  him  in  Eome  5  and  therefore  sent  him  back 
with  a  letter  that  surely  secured  for  him  a  recep- 
tion, not  usually  accorded  to  a  fugitive  slave. 

*'  I  beseech  thee  for  my  son  Onesimus,  whom  I 
have  begotten  in  my  bonds :  which  in  time  past 
was  to  thee  unprofitable,  but  now  profitable  to 
thee  and  to  me :  whom  I  have  sent  again :  thou 
therefore  receive  him,  that  is,  mine  own  bowels 
[revised  version,  my  very  heart]  whom  I  would 
have  retained  with  me,  that  in  thy  stead  he  might 
have  ministered  unto  me  in  the  bonds  of  the  gos- 
pel :  but  without  thy  mind  would  I  do  nothing ; 
that  thy  benefit  should  not  be  as  it  were  of  neces- 
sity, but  willingly.  For  perhaps  he  therefore 
departed  for  a  season,  that  thou  shouldest  receive 
him  for  ever ;  not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above  a 
servant,  a  brother  beloved,  specially  to  me,  but 
how  much  more  unto  thee,  both  in  the  flesh,  and  in 
the  Lord.  If  thou  count  me  therefore  a  partner, 
receive  him  as  myself." 

How  touching  and  how  beautiful  is  this  love  of 
10 


146  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

the  inspired  Apostle  for  a  runaway  slave,  and  ho^v 
certain  it  is  that  if  the  gospel  had  been  i)ermiW:ed 
to  work  out  its  beneficent  spirit,  unimpeded  by 
man's  folly  and  depravity,  it  would  have  quietly 
removed  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  lifted  the  believ- 
ing slave  into  the  brotherhood  of  saints,  and  into 
the  very  place  of  Christ  before  the  throne  of  God. 
Verse  18  gives  us  a  striking  definition  of  imputa- 
tion. *'  If  he  hath  wronged  thee,  or  oweth  thee 
ought,  put  that  on  mine  account/'  The  word  ren- 
dered ^9it^  that  on  mine  account  is  translated  imputed 
in  Kom.  v.  13.  So  the  precious  Saviour  stands  in 
the  presence  of  His  Father,  and  says  in  behalf  of 
the  believing  sinner,  "  If  he  hath  wronged  thee,  or 
oweth  thee  ought,  put  that  on  mine  account."  It 
is  blessed  to  know  that  we  have  One  now  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  who  has  given  satisfac- 
tion for  our  wrong  doing,  and  paid  all  our  debts. 

HEBREWS. 

The  titles  of  the  different  chapters  in  this  pre- 
cious epistle  may  be  given  as  follows:  Christ, 
the  divine  and  eternal  Son  of  God,  i. ;  Christ,  the 
captain  of  our  salvation,  ii. ;  Christ,  the  head  of 
His  house,  iii. ;  Christ,  the  rest  of  His  people,  iv. ; 
Christ,  our  great  high  priest,  v. ;  Christ,  our  fore- 
runner, vi. ;   Christ,  our  living   intercessor,   vii. ; 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  147 

Christ,  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  viii. ; 
Christ,  our  perfect  sacrifice,  ix. ;  Christ,  perfecting 
forever  them  that  are  sanctified,  x. ;  Christ,  the 
only  object  of  faith,  xi.;  Christ,  the  princely  leader 
and  pattern  of  faith,  xii. ;  Christ,  the  great  shep- 
herd of  His  sheep,  xiii. 

Thus  He  is  everything  to  the  believer ;  and  it  is 
interesting  and  most  suggestive  to  see  how  the 
greatness  of  the  greatest  is  made  to  pale  and  dis- 
appear in  the  light  of  His  superior  glory.  In  chap. 
i.  the  angels  are  brought  into  view,  but  only  to  bow 
in  lowly  worship  at  His  feet.  In  chap.  ii.  man  in 
his  original  beauty  and  dignity  is  seen,  but  only  as 
a  fleeting  shadow  of  Jesus.  In  chap.  iii.  Moses  is 
mentioned,  but  only  as  a  faithful  servant  in  all  his 
house,  while  Christ  towers  above  him  as  a  Son  over 
His  own  house.  In  chap.  iv.  Joshua  appears,  but 
only  to  show  his  inferiority  to  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God. 
In  chap.  V.  Aaron  stands  forth,  but  only  as  a  step- 
ping stone  to  the  Son,  who  became  the  author  of 
eternal  salvation  to  them  that  obey  Him. 

In  chap.  vi.  Abraham  is  named,  but  only  to 
illustrate  how  strong  is  the  consolation,  and  how 
sure  the  hope,  of  those  who  have  Jesus  as  their  fore- 
runner and  herald  within  the  veil.  In  chap.  vii. 
Melchisedek  passes  across  the  scene,  but  only  to 
point  to  Him  who  was  made  a  priest  after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life.    In  chap.  viii.  the  old 


148  BOOKS  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

covenant,  proclaimed  amid  the  pomp  and  pageantry 
of  Sinai,  is  exchanged  for  the  new  covenant,  con- 
firmed in  Him,  who  is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens.  In  chap.  ix. 
the  tabernacle  with  its  imposing  ritual  is  said  to 
gather  all  its  significance  from  its  typical  relation 
to  Jesus,  who  by  His  own  blood  entered  in  once 
into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  re- 
demption. In  chap.  X.  every  priest  standing  daily 
ministering  through  all  previous  history  only 
proved  our  need  of  this  man,  who,  after  he  had 
oifered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  forever,  sat  down  on 
the  right  hand  of  God.  In  chap.  xi.  the  heroes 
of  the  Bible,  forming  God's  loved  gallery  of  por- 
traits, are  brought  before  us  j  but  only  to  bid  the 
believer  in  chap.  xii.  to  look  away  from  the  most 
beautiful  picture  unto  Jesus,  who  in  chap.  xiii.  is 
revealed  as  "  the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and 
for  ever.'^ 

Hence  in  this  remarkable  epistle  to  Hebrew 
Christians,  which  it  is  safe  to  assert,  in  the  face  of 
many  modern  critics,  was  written  at  the  dictation 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  apostle  Paul,  the  most 
illustrious  joersons  and  the  most  venerable  institu- 
tions are  made  to  give  way  to  One,  who  was  infi- 
nitely above  and  beyond  them  all  in  the  dignity  of 
His  divine  nature,  and  in  the  value  of  His  atoning 
work.     They  are  introduced  one  by  one  only  to 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  149 

retire  one  by  one  before  the  presence  of  Him,  who 
being  the  brightness  or  effulgence  of  the  Father's 
glory,  and  the  very  image  of  His  person  or  the 
exact  expression  of  His  substance,  and  upholding 
all  things  by  the  word  of  His  power,  when  He  had 
by  Himself  purged  our  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  The  acknowledged 
date  of  the  epistle,  standing  between  the  first  and 
second  epistles  of  Peter,  may  throw  light  upon  the 
words  of  2  Pet.  iii.  15,  16. 

Here  all  is  eternal  in  contrast  with  the  Mosaic 
ordinances,  that  disappeared  in  Messiah's  finished 
sacrifice  and  ascension,  as  the  gray  dawn  disap- 
pears in  the  splendor  of  the  noon  day  sun.  His 
throne  is  eternal,  (i.  8) ;  He  became  the  author  of 
eternal  salvation,  (v.  9) ;  His  priesthood  is  eternal, 
(vi.  20) ;  He  obtained  eternal  redemption,  (ix.  12) ; 
He  offered  Himself  through  the  eternal  Spirit,  (ix. 
14) ;  He  has  given  us  the  promise  of  eternal  inherit- 
ance, (ix.  15) ;  and  He  has  cleansed  us  with  the 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  (xiii.  20). 
Accordingly  believers  are  viewed  as  not  belonging 
to  earth,  but  as  "  partakers  of  the  heavenly  call> 
ing,"  (iii.  1),  knowing  for  themselves  that  they 
"  have  in  heaven  a  better  and  an  enduring  sub- 
stance, (x.  34).  Hence  too,  the  Holy  Ghost,  look- 
ing at,  everything  from  the  stand  point  of  eternity, 
could  say,  **  For  yet  a  little  while,  how  short !  how 


BOOKS  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

short !  the  Coming  One  will  be  here,  and  will  not 
delay,"  (x.  37,  Eotherham's  translation). 

The  epistle  brings-  out  clearly  the  characteristics 
of  our  great  High  Priest,  CI)  as  by  Himself  purging 
our  sins,  i.  3 ;  (2)  as  suffering,  ii.  9, 10, 17, 18 ;  (3) 
as  sympathizing,  iv.  15;  (4)  as-of  royal  station  and 
power,  vii.  2,  14,  17 ;  (5)  as  interceding,  vii.  25 ;  (6) 
as  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners, 
and  made  higher  than  the  heavens,  vii.  26 ;  (7)  as 
appearing  the  second  time,  without  sin,  unto  salva- 
tion, ix.  28.  It  also  shows  us  that  as  our  High 
Priest  He  is  able  (1)  to. succor,  ii.  18;  (2)  to  give 
grace,  iv.  16;  (3)  to  cleanse  from  dead  works,  ix.  14 ; 
(4)  to  secure  for  us  entrance  with  boldness  into  the 
holiest,  x.  19-22 ;  (5)  to  lead  us  forth  without  the 
camp  of  the  world  and  the  world's  religion,  xiii.  13 ; 

(6)  that  we  may  joyfully  confess  His  name,  xiii.  15 ; 

(7)  and  offer  acceptable  service  to  God,  xiii.  16. 
Indeed  in  the  whole  of  His  priestly  work,  He  had 

special  and  primary  reference  to  the  glory  of  God, 
as  shown  (1)  by  the  fact  that  He  is  a  high  priest  in 
things  pertaining  to  God,  ii.  17 ;  (2)  that  He  uses 
the  word  of  God,  iv.  12-14 ;  (3)  that  He  was  called 
of  God,  V.  10 ;  (4)  that  He  fulfilled  the  immutable 
counsel  of  God,  vi.  17-20;  (5)  that  He  is  now  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God,  viii.  1 ;  (6) 
that  He  offered  Himself  without  spot  to  God,  ix. 
14 ;   (7)  that  He  came  to  do  the  will  of  God,  x.  7^ 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  151 

By  the  doing  of  His  will,  believers  (1)  have  no 
more  conscience  of  sins,  x.  2 ;  (2)  they  are  sanctified, 
X.  10  J  (3)  they  are  perfected  forever,  x.  14 ;  (4)  they 
have  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  their  accept- 
ance, X.  15 ;  (5)  there  is  no  more  remembrance  of 
their  sins,  x.  17  ;  (6)  there  is  complete  remission  of 
their  sins,  x.  18 ;  (7)  they  have  freeness  of  access  to 
God,  X.  19  ;  even  when  they  know  that  our  God, 
not  God  out  of  Christ,  but  "  our  God  is  a  consum-  • 
ing  fire,"  xii.  29. 

JAMBS. 

Some  one  has  well  said  that  when  we  leave  the 
holy  of  holies,  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  James 
takes  us  by  the  hand,  and  leads  us  through 
the  world.  It  is  eminently  practical  in  its  charac- 
ter, and  may  be  regarded  as  the  book  of  Proverbs 
of  the  New  Testament.  That  it  occupies  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  canon  of  Sacred  Scripture  will 
be  gratefully  acknowledged  by  all  who  bow  to  the 
authority  of  God's  word ;  and  if  any  true  Christians 
have  thought  that  its  teachings  are  not  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  tone  of  the  gospel,  it  is  because 
they  have  failed  to  see  the  design  of  the  epistle. 

The  opening  verse  informs  us  that  it  was  written 
"  to  the  twelve  tribes  which  are  scattered  abroad.'^ 
True  that  ten  of  these  tribes  had  been  lost  from 


152  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

human  view  for  many  centuries,  but  they  still  ex- 
isted in  the  purpose  of  God,  and  to  the  eye  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  5  and  we  find  them  here  addressed,  as 
if  they  had  remained  in  the  land  which  was  given 
to  their  fathers  for  an  everlasting  possession. 
Among  these  twelve  tribes  were  some  who  were 
Christians,  and  some  of  course  who  had  never  ad- 
vanced beyond  Jewish  faith ;  and  if  this  fact  is 
remembered,  every  apparent  difficulty  can  be  readi- 
ly explained.  It  is  Jehovah's  last,  formal  call  to 
Israel,  until  the  second  advent,  to  live  in  the  spirit 
and  in  the  power  of  the-  Old  Testament  scrii^tures, 
that  pointed  to  Christ  as  the  only  Deliverer. 

Hence  the  Apostle,  who  was  our  Lord's  brother 
according  to  the  flesh,  is  careful  at  the  outset  to 
call  himself  "  a  servant  of  God  and  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.'^  Hence  too  amid  the  directions  he 
gives  concerning  trials,  the  way  to  obtain  wisdom, 
riches  and  poverty,  he  reminds  his  brethren  that 
God  of  His  own  will  begets  us  with  the  word  of 
truth,  and  that  the  new  nature  thus  received  will 
lay  an  arrest  upon  the  unruly  tongue  and  turbu- 
lent heart.  He  also  calls  the  gospel  "the  j)erfect 
law  of  liberty,^^  and  tells  us  that  "  Pure  religion 
and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this. 
To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  afflic- 
tion, and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the 
world."     The  former  part  of  this  definition  is  often 


BOOKS   OP  THE  BIBLE.  153 

quoted,  and  it  suits  unregenerate  men,  who  can  get 
credit  for  visiting  the  fatherless  and  widows ;  but 
the  latter  part  is  nearly  always  left  oilt,  because  it 
it  is  imi)ossible  for  the  flesh  to  be  unspotted  from 
the  world,  chap.  i. 

The  inspired  writer,  therefore,  proceeds  to  show 
that  Christian  practice  must  rest  on  Christian  faith, 
and  speaks  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  true 
glory,  the  shechinah  of  the  temple  around  which 
their  hopes  had  formerly  clustered.  This  bright- 
ness fell  upon  the  poorest  saint,  so  that  the  brother 
of  low  degree  might  '^  glory  in  his  sublimity,'^  as 
Manson  renders  it,  (i.  9),  and  any  distinction  be- 
tween rich  and  poor  in  the  house  of  God  was  most 
offensive  to  Him,  who  made  it  His  crowning 
achievement  that  "the  poor  have  the  gospel 
preached  to  them,"  (Matt.  xi.  5).  But  then  as  now 
there  was  a  disposition  to  rely  upon  mere  forms 
and  ordinances  for  salvation,  and  consequently  the 
faith  that  saves  is  shown  to  be  a  fruitful  and 
powerful  thing.  There  is  not  the  slightest  differ- 
ence between  Paul  and  James,  but  they  present 
precisely  the  same  truth  from  different  stand- 
points. The  former  says,  faith  works  by  love, 
(Gal.  V.  G),  and  so  does  the  latter  who  says,  "  what 
doth  it  profit,  my  brei^hren,  though  a  man  say  he 
hath  faith,  and  have  not  works  ?  Again  he  says, 
"Ye  see    then    how    that    by  works    a    man  is 


154  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

justified,  and  not  by  faith  only."  Upon  these  two 
words,  say  and  see,  depends  the  meaning  of  James, 
who  cites  Abraham  and  Eahab,  as  Paul  does,  but 
at  different  periods,  to  show  that  while  they  were 
justified  before  God  by  faith  alone,  they  were  jus- 
tified before  men  by  works,  chap.  ii. 

This  is  followed  by  a  picture  of  the  terrible  evils 
and  mischiefs  wrought  by  an  ungoverned  tongue, 
wiiich  in  graphic  description  surpasses  anything 
in  the  range  of  uninspired  literature ;  and  it  closes 
with  a  beautiful  definition  of  the  wisdom  that  is 
from  above  as  "  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle, 
easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits, 
without  partiality  [margin,  wrangling],  and  with- 
out h;^pocrisy.  And  the  fruit  of  righteousness  is 
sown  in  peace  of  them  that  make  peace,"  chaj).  iii. 

Then  comes  a  stirring  admonition  against  the 
love  of  worldly  i^leasures,  the  fountain  of  restless 
desire  and  brawlings,  the  secret  of  unanswered 
prayer,  and  denounced  as  spiritual  adultery.  *'  Do 
ye  think  the  scripture  saith  in  vain.  The  Spirit 
that  He  placed  in  us  jealously  desireth  usf  (vs.  5, 
Alford's  reading).  Humility,  submission  to  God, 
resistance  of  the  devil,  downright  earnestness, 
cessation  of  evil  speaking,  a  deep  sense  of  the  un- 
certainty of  life  and  of  entire  dependence  upon  the 
providence  of  the  Lord  every  day,  must  character- 
ize those  who  live  according  to  His  will,  chap.  iv. 


BOOKS   OP  THE  BIBLE.  155 

Again  does  the  warning  sound  forth  against  in- 
ordinate desire  for  riches,  as  specially  suited  to 
Jewish  habits  of  thought,  and  the  corrective  of  the 
tendency  is  the  fixed  expectation  of  the  coming  of 
the  Lord.  Lands  and  houses  were  not  worth  much 
as  the  year  of  Jubilee  drew  nigh,  (Lev.  xxv.). 
Meanwhile  they  were  to  be  patient  in  affliction, 
remembering  the  tender  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  deal- 
ing with  His  chastened  saints  of  old,  and  not  for- 
getting that  "  very  strong  is  the  working  sui)plica- 
tion  of  a  righteous  man,"  (vs.  16,  Young's  transla- 
tion). The  conversion  of  one  sinner  shall  save  a 
soul  from  death,  covering  from  God's  sight  a  mul- 
titude of  that  soul's  sins,  and  hence  it  is  worth  a 
thousand  worlds  like  this,  against  the  dangerous 
influence  of  which  the  epistle  was  designed  to  put 
us  on  our  guard,  chap.  v. 

THE  EPISTLES  OF  PETER. 

It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that  four  of  the  Kew 
Testament  epistles  have  special  reference  to  the 
Jews.  It  shows  God's  loving  remembrance  of  His 
ancient  people,  and,  although  no  distinction  exists, 
between  Jew  and  Gentile  in  Christ,  it  intimates 
His  purpose  to  have  them  ever  in  view  as  a  people, 
and,  when  "  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come 
in,"  to   restore  them  to  covenant  relationship  to 


156  BOOKS   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

Himself.  '*  Even  unto  this  day,  when  Moses  is  read, 
the  vail  is  upon  their  heart.  Nevertheless,  when 
it  shall  turn  to  the  Lord,  the  vail  shall  be  taken 
away,"  (2  Cor.  iii.  15,  16). 

The  first  epistle  of  Peter  is  addressed  to  believ- 
ing Jews,  touchingly  called  *'the  strangers,"  or  as 
the  Kevised  Version  has  it,  the  *'  sojourners  of  the 
Dispersion,"  scattered  through  Asia  Minor.  But 
whatever  they  were  in  man's  sight,  they  were 
*'  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God ;" 
looking  forward  with  a  living  hope  "  to  an  inherit- 
ance incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away;"  rejoicing  "with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory,"  although  in  the  midst  of  sore  trials; 
called  as  obedient  children  to  separate  themselves 
from  everything  that  dishonored  their  Father; 
knowing  that  they  had  been  redeemed  with  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ ;  and  resting  their  faith, 
amid  the  swift  changes  of  earth,  upon  the  word  of 
Ood,  by  which  they  were  born  again  unto  a  life 
that,  like  the  word,  abideth  forever,  chap.  i. 

Upon  this  statement  of  facts  as  to  their  position 
before  God  is  based  a  practical  exhortation  to 
grow  in  the  knowledge  of  the  word ;  to  act  worthy 
of  their  high  vocation  as  a  holy  priesthood  in  their 
relation  to  Jehovah,  and  as  a  royal  priesthood  in 
their  relation  to  the  world ;  to  adore  the  sovereign 
mercy  which  had  made  them  a  people  in  the  time 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  157 

of  IsraePs  rejection ;  to  keep  aloof  as  strangers  and 
l^ilgrims  from  entangling  alliances  with  the  world ; 
to  walk  among  the  Gentiles  with  a  sincerity,  a  con- 
scientiousness, a  lofty  integrity  that  would  con- 
strain the  recognition  of  God  ;  to  be  subject  to  civil 
rulers,  however  vile  in  themselves  ;  to  make  Christ 
their  example  in  humility  and  meekness ;  "  who 
his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the 
tree,  that  we,  being  dead  to  sins,  should  live  unto 
righteousness,"  chap.  ii. 

Then  follow  directions  to  wives  and  to  husbands, 
which,  if  heeded,  would  make  the  marriage  relation 
sweet  and  sacred ;  directions  to  govern  believers 
in  their  conduct  toward  one  another,  directions  to 
be  ready  always  with  an  answer  to  every  man  who 
asks  for  a  reason  of  the  Christian's  hope ;  directions 
to  suffer  uncomplainingly  if  it  be  God's  will,  remem- 
bering that  "  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for  sins, 
the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to 
God."  Ages  ago  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  Noah 
preached  to  the  ante-diluvian  world,  but,  rejecting 
the  testimony  of  the  word,  they  are  now  shut  up  in 
prison,  while  Noah  and  his  family  passed  through 
the  water  as  a  symbol  of  death  and  resurrection,  of 
which  baptism  is  still  the  figure,  chap.  iii. 

The  sufferings  of  Christ  form  the  greatest 
incentive  to  courage  and  constancy  and  complete 
separation  from  the  old  life  of  sin,  for  even  if  death 


158  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

passes  upon  believers,  they  still  live  according  to 
God  in  the  spirit,  and  are  patiently  waiting  for  the 
end,  which  is  represented  as  at  hand.  Hence  they 
are  to  keep  the  Master  always  before  the  mind, 
and  thus  to  rejoice  in  all  sufferings  endured  for 
His  sake.  Judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of 
God,  winnowing  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  but  a 
far  more  appalling  judgment  will  fall  upon  those 
who  obey  not  the  gospel,  chaj).  iv. 

Those  therefore  who  have  the  charge  and  over- 
sight of  the  flock  must  live  in  the  i)ower  of  the 
certain  appearing  of  the  Chief  Shepherd ;  and,  so 
far  from  indulging  the  pride  and  self-sufficiency 
natural  to  man,  all  Christians  are  to  be  clothed 
with  humility,  or,  as  the  Greek  word  signifies,  to 
tie  it  on  fast  with  a  knot,  remembering  that  they 
have  a  watchful  and  powerful  adversary,  who  is 
ever  seeking  their  destruction.  "But  the  God  of 
all  grace,  who  hath  called  ue  unto  his  eternal  glory 
by  Christ  Jesus,  after  that  ye  have  suffered  awhile, 
fitablish,  strengthen,  settle  you,''  chap.  v. 


The  Second  Epistle,  like  the  other  second  epis- 
tles, is  largely  occupied  with  the  last  days.  Hence 
the  urgent  exhortation  to  i^ress  forward  with  dili- 
gence to  higher  and  still  higher  attainments,  so 
that  an  entrance  may  be  ministered  abundantly 
into  the  everlasting    kingdom  of   our  Lord   and 


BOOKS   OP  THE  BIBLE.  159 

Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  of  which  we  have  a  beautiful 
sample  in  the  glory  of  the  transfiguratiouj  making 
more  sure  the  word  of  prophecy,  to  which  we  do 
well  that  we  give  heed,  as  unto  a  light  that  shineth 
in  a  dark  place,  and  always  remembering  that  holy 
men  of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  chap.  i. 

But  notwithstanding  the  divine  certainty  and 
infinite  sufficiency  of  God's  word,  we  are  plainly 
warned  that  false  teachers  will  arise,  for  whom  the 
most  terrible  damnation  is  in  store.  Balaam  is 
their  type,  and  although  they  may  be  regarded  as 
fountains  of  learning,  they  are  wells  without  water ; 
although  their  beautiful  language  may  soar  to  the 
skies,  they  are  clouds  that  are  carried  with  a 
temi^est,  to  whom  the  mist  of  darkness  is  reserved 
for  ever.  Through  their  pernicious  influence  many 
professed  Christians  will  turn  like  a  dog  to  his 
vomit,  and  like  a  sow  that  was  washed  to  her 
wallowing  in  the  mire,  for  they  were  never  any- 
thing, amid  all  their  pretentious  profession,  but 
dogs  and  swine,  chap.  ii. 

So  the  apostacy  will  go,  until  in  the  last  days 
scoffers  shall  arise  among  those  claiming  to  be 
Christians,  and  sneering  on  scientific  grounds  at 
the  truth  of  our  Lord's  personal  return  to  the  earth. 
But  return  He  will,  usherinsj  in  that  day  which 
will  last  a  thousand    years,  and    terminate  in  a 


IGO  BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE. 

conflagration  which  will  introduce  the  eternal  state. 
All  believers  who  would  make  their  calling  and 
election  sure  must  be  looking  for,  and  hasting  the 
coming  of  that  day,  ever  rejoicing  in  the  long 
suffering  of  our  Lord,  and  accounting  every  part 
of  His  precious  word  as  above  all  price.  '*  To  Him 
be  glory,  both  now  and  to  the  day  of  the  age. 
Amen,''  (Young's  translation). 

FIRST  EPISTLE   OF  JOHN. 

The  gospel  of  John  is  about  the  Son  of  God, 
while  this  beautiful  epistle  is  chiefly  occupied 
about  the  sons  of  God.  Hence  He  who  was  "  in 
the  beginning  "  is  here  seen  ''^  from  the  beginning" 
moving  for  the  deliverance  of  those  whom  the 
Father  had  given  to  Him  out  of  the  world.  The 
epistle  commences  where  the  gospel  closes,  with  a 
saved  sinner  in  the  bosom  of  incarnate  love  ;  and 
the  whole  family  are  viewed  in  their  relation  to  the 
Father,  to  the  elder  Brother,  to  one  another,  to  the 
world,  to  sin,  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  prayer. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  entire  epistle  is 
addressed  to  believers,  and  only  to  believers. 

First,  we  have  eternal  life  in  the  Son  of  God, 
bringing  us  into  fellowship  or  partnership  with  the 
Father  and  with  the  Son,  causing  us  no  longer  to 
shrink  from  the  light,  revealing  the  efficacy  of  the 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  161 

blood  of  Christ  as  keeping  pace  with  every  flash  of 
that  increasing  light,  pointing  out  the  provision 
made  to  meet  our  failures  in  the  ministry  of  the 
word  and  the  advocacy  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  mak- 
ing it  certain  that  whosoever  abideth  in  Him  will 
walk  even  as  He  walked.  In  order  to  do  this  the 
heart  must  be  established  in  the  knowledge  of 
present  salvation,  and  hence  the  Holy  Ghost  says, 
''  I  write  unto  you,  little  children,  because  your 
sins  ARE  forgiven  you  for  his  name's  sake,"  i.,  ii. 
1-12. 

Second,  this  happy  household  is  then  divided 
into  three  groups,  according  to  their  age,  experi- 
ence, practical  attainments,  and  service,  designated 
as  fathers,  young  men,  and  little  children;  but  the 
word  rendered  *' little  children"  is  altogether 
different  from  that  so  translated  in  ii.  1,  12,  28 ; 
iii.  7,  18  5  iv.  4 ;  v.  21.  It  implies  a  very  young 
child,  or  infant,  and  yet  it  is  presumed  that  they 
know  enough  to  know  the  Father,  and  to  be  warned 
of  the  antichrist,  and  to  shun  unitarianism  as 
thoroughly  antichristian,  and  to  rejoice  in  the 
anointing  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  be  independent  of 
man's  teaching.  Each  class  is  twice  appropriately 
addressed,  ii.  13-27. 

Third,  the  household  is  brought  together  again, 
and  told  to  abide  in  Christ  in  view  of  His  second 

coming,  to  walk  in  righteousness  as  those  born  of 

11 


1C2  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

God,  as  sous  of  God,  as  destined  to  shine  in  the 
likeness  of  Jesus  at  His  appearing,  as  obtaining 
real  victory  over  sin  and  the  devil  on  their  way  to 
meet  Him  in  the  glory,  for  that  which  is  born  of 
God  in  them,  the  new  nature,  can  not  sin,  ii.  28,  29 : 
iii.  1-10. 

Fourth,  the  children  of  the  family  are  then 
viewed  in  their  relation  to  one  another,  and  it  is  a 
relation  of  love  under  the  influence  of  His  example, 
who  did  lay  down  His  life  for  us,  so  that  we  ought 
to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren.  Thus  we 
have  confidence  toward  God,  and  keep  His  com- 
mandments, which  are  not  like  the  old  command- 
ments that  said,  "  Love  God,"  and  "  Love  thy 
neighbor,"  but,  "Believe  in  God's  love  for  you," 
and,  "  Love  one  another,"  iii.  11-21. 

Fifth,  this  is  followed  by  a  statement  of  their 
relation  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  has  come  to  tes- 
tify of  Christ,  and  to  glorify  Christ,  (John  xv.  26 ; 
xvi.  14) ;  and  hence  any  teaching  that  does  not 
exalt  Christ,  any  teaching  that  puts  self,  experi- 
ence, culture,  progress,  church,  or  what  else  above 
Christ,  is  not  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  does  not 
flow  from  the  manifested  love  of  God  in  the  gift  of 
His  only  begotten  Son,  but  is  essentially  anti- 
christian  in  its  origin  and  end,  iv.  1-10. 

Sixth,  whatever  measure  of  love  we  have  for  Him 
and  for  His  children  is  but  the  faint  reflection,  the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE  163 

feeble  response,  given  in  answer  to  His  perfect 
love,  that  imparts  boldness  in  anticipation  of  the 
day  of  judgment,  that  makes  us  in  this  world  even 
as  Christ  is  in  heaven,  that  sets  forth  the  way  of 
salvation  in  such  sweet  simplicity  we  can  say  in 
unquestioning  confidence,  *'  Whosoever  believeth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  is  born  of  God,''  and  that 
secures  in  the  power  of  the  new  nature,  and  con- 
tinuing faith  in  Christ,  complete  victory  over  the 
world,  according  to  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  iv. 
11-21 ;  V.  1-8. 

Seventh,  the  witness  of  God  is  the  sure  founda- 
tion of  our  faith  and  hope,  and  this  witness  extends 
to  the  present  possession  of  eternal  life  through 
His  Son,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  by  what  is 
written,  to  confidence  in  prayer,  to  intercession  for 
others,  to  the  privilege  of  being  kept  by  the  power 
of  God  from  the  very  touch  of  that  wicked  one  in 
whom  the  whole  world  lieth  until  the  Son  of  God 
shall  come.  Hence  the  importance  of  keeping 
ourselves  from  idols  in  the  joy  of  that  blessed 
hope,  V.  9-21. 

SECOND  EPISTLE  OF  JOHN. 

It  is  very  suggestive  that  the  second  epistle 
which,  like  the  other  second  epistles,  has  special 
reference  to  the  state  of  things  in  the  latter  times, 
was  addressed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  a  lady.    It 


164  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

may  come  to  pass  very  soon  that  only  one  here  and 
another  there  will  be  considered  worthy  of  a  com- 
munication from  heaven,  but  that  one,  though  but 
a  woman,  will  not  be  forgotten.  Observe  too  how 
the  word  truth  rings  out  five  times,  the  Jewish 
number,  in  this  little  epistle,  and  how  the  elect 
lady  and  her  children  are  put  upon  their  guard 
against  the  many  deceivers  "  who  confess  not  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  coming  in  the  flesh,"  [see  Greek]. 
It  is  that  coming  which  stimulates  to  earnestness, 
"that  we  lose  not  those  things  which  we  have 
wrought,  but  that  we  receive  a  full  reward  ;"  and 
meanwhile,  if  any  bring  not  with  them  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  the  doctrine  that  honors  Christ  as  the 
divine  and  eternal  Son  of  the  Father,  the  doctrine 
that  presents  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour  of  lost 
men,  neither  the  lady  nor  ourselves  are  to  receive 
such  false  teachers  into  our  houses,  nor  bid  them 
God  speed.  We  are  to  be  true  to  Him  at  any  cost 
of  what  the  world  calls  charity  or  courtesy,  hoping 
to  be  with  the  saints  in  His  presence,  and  to  speak 
face  to  face,  that  our  joy  may  be  full. 

THIRD   EPISTLE   OF  JOHN. 

This  brief  epistle,  reaching  on  to  the  very  last 
days,  is  also  addressed  to  an  individual,  and  seven 
times,  the  church  number  of  completeness,  does 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  165 

the  word  truth  sound  forth.  The  first  epistle,  like 
the  first  epistle  of  Peter,  comforts  believers  amid 
trials  arising  from  the  world  j  but  the  second  and 
third  epistles,  like  the  second  of  Peter,  seek  to  con- 
firm them  against  far  greater  trials  arising:  from 
within  the  church.  As  in  the  second  epistle  of 
Peter  knowledge  is  mentioned  seven  times,  so  in 
the  third  epistle  of  John,  brief  as  it  is,  truth  is 
mentioned  seven  times,  showing  to  what  manifold 
and  dangerous  errors  and  lies  believers  will  be 
exposed  in  the  last  days.  As  the  second  epistle 
of  John  tells  us  whom  to  reject,  the  third  epistle 
tells  us  whom  to  receive,  not  merely  as  an  act  of 
charity,  not  simply  as  an  expression  of  Christian 
courtesy,  but  "  that  we  might  be  fellow-helpers  to 
the  truth.'^  It  is  most  significant  that  in  this  last 
of  the  inspired  epistles,  touching  the  condition  of 
things  in  the  last  days,  so  much  is  made  of  the 
truth,  and  that  the  church  is  mentioned  three 
times,  though  existing  amid  surrounding  ruins. 
But  the  dear  old  apostle  could  lift  up  his  eyes 
above  earth's  gloom  to  look  for  the  "  Bright  and 
Morning  Star,"  and  in  the  expectation  of  soon  be- 
holding its  golden  light  he  could  say,  "  I  trust  I 
shall  shortly  [immediately]  see  thee,  and  we  shall 
speak  face  to  face."  There  will  not  be  many  left, 
however,  and  hence  he  closes  with  the  sweet  and 
solemn  words,  "  Greet  the  friends  by  name." 


166  BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

EPISTLE  OF  JUDE. 

It  was  reserved  for  one  who  was  called  "  the 
brother  of  the  Lord,"  but  who  esteems  it  a  privi- 
lege to  call  himself  **  the  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,'^ 
to  take  us  by  the  hand,  and  lead  us  to  the  threshold 
of  the  book  of  Eevelation,  thus  introducing  the 
appalling  judgments  there  portrayed.  Certain, 
ignorant  commentators  have  asserted  that  Peter 
borrowed  from  Jude,  or  that  Jude  plagiarized  from 
Peter;  but  apart  from  the  fact  that  both  wrote 
immediately  under  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost^ 
any  attentive  reader  can  readily  perceive  that 
Peter  wrote  in  his  second  epistle  of  sin,  while  Jude 
advances  the  thought  to  treat  of  apostacy.  A 
comparison  of  2  Pet.  ii.  4  with  Jude  6  will  illus- 
trate the  difference. 

The  seven  incidents  which  the  Spirit  of  God  here 
cites  from  the  history  of  the  past  are  evidently 
intended  to  mark  the  course  o^  events  that  precede 
the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  judgment,  and  to  explain 
the  cause  of  what  follows  in  the  book  of  Eevelation. 
The  danger  will  arise,  as  everywhere  asserted,  from 
those  within  the  church,  "ungodly  men,  turning 
the  grace  of  our  God  into  lasciviousness,  and  deny- 
ing the  only  Lord  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'^ 

First  comes  unbelief,  (vs.  5),  the  source  of  all 
sin,  the  poisonous  root  of  all  evil,  the  beginning  of 


BOOKS  OF  THE  BIBLE.  167 

all  departure  from  God.  Second,  we  have  apos- 
tacy,  illustrated  by  the  angels  who  kept  not  their 
principality  [margin],  but  left  their  own  habitation, 
(vs.  6).  Third,  following  this  apostacy  there  will 
be,  as  in  the  past,  gross  sensuality  leading  to  the 
unbridled  indulgence  of  lust,  (vs.  7).  Fourth,  law- 
lessness will  abound,  and  contempt  of  constituted 
authority,  impatience  of  restraint,  communism, 
assassination  of  rulers,  the  overthrow  of  govern- 
ment when  it  does  not  meet  the  insane  and  insati- 
ate demand  of  the  mob,  will  succeed  the  apostacy, 
(vs.  8-10).  Fifth,  self-willed  religiousness,  choos- 
ing its  own  offerings,  and  despising  the  blood  of 
atonement,  as  with  Cain,  is  another  characteristic 
of  the  days  that  will  usher  in  wrath,  (vs.  11). 
Sixth,  then  will  be  seen  a  bold  invasion  of  the 
prophetic  office,  setting  aside  the  authority  of 
Christ  as  Teacher,  as  in  the  case  of  Balaam,  who 
corrupted  Israel  by  worldly  alliances  ;  and  seventh, 
the  crowning  iniquity  will  be  reached  in  the  blas- 
phemous denial  of  Christ's  priesthood,  substitut- 
ing, like  Korah,  their  own  opinions  for  the  testi- 
mony of  the  word  concerning  the  worship  that  is 
acceptable  to  God,  (vs.  11). 

Well,  the  Lord  is  coming  to  vindicate  His  in- 
sulted majesty,  and  of  this  Enoch  preached.  We 
know  not  what  beside  he  preached,  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  proclaimed   the    second    coming    of 


163  BOOKS    OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Christ.  "  Kow  unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you 
from  falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless  before 
the  presence  of  his  glory  with  exceeding  joy;  to 
the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory  and 
majesty,  dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  ever. 
Amen." 

REYELATION. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
would  have  been  incomplete  without  this  last 
book.  It  impugns  the  wisdom  of  our  heavenly 
Father  to  suppose  that  He  made  a  mistake  in  plac- 
ing it  among  His  living  oracles,  and  it  surely 
grieves  Him  when  His  children  treat  it,  as  too 
many  do,  with  studied  neglect  and  almost  with  un- 
disguised contempt.  It  is  "  The  Eevelation  of 
Jesus  Christ  [not  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  as  the 
uninspired  title  falsely  asserts],  which  God  gave 
unto  him,  to  shew  unto  his  servants  thinscs  which 
must  shortly  come  to  pass."  As  He  gave  it,  there- 
fore, to  show  His  servants  what  is  certainly  com- 
ing to  pass,  it  can  not  be  His  will  to  have  them 
turn  from  its  solemn  testimony  in  utter  unconcern. 

The  plea  that  is  constantly  urged  as  an  excuse 
for  indifference  to  this  portion  of  the  inspired  word 
is  our  inability  to  understand  it.  But,  as  if  God 
foresaw  the  excuse,  and  determined  to  sweep  it 
out  of  the  way  of  obedience  to  His  command.  He 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  169 

says,  *'  Blessed  is  lie  that  readeth,  and  they  that 
hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep  those 
things  which  are  written  therein."  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  nothing  is  said  about  understanding  it, 
but  there  is  a  blessing  for  him  that  readeth,  and 
for  them  that  hear.  Any  child  of  God  can  get  this 
blessing,  and  every  one  should  desire  it.  "  He 
that  readeth  "  implies  that  it  should  be  read  per- 
sonally, and  "  they  that  hear  "  indicates  that  the 
people  should  have  an  opportunity  of  listening  to 
it.  Even  if  they  can  not  read,  it  is  blessed  to  hear 
and  to  keep  the  words  of  this  prophecy. 

After  all,  is  not  the  trouble  in  the  heart  rather 
than  the  head,  when  professing  Christians  com- 
plain that  they  derive  no  profit  from  that  which 
God  has  been  pleased  to  make  known  as  a  revela- 
tion, apocalypse,  or  unveiling  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Ko 
matter  what  the  seals,  trumpets,  and  vials  mean : 
it  is  enough  for  the  loyal  believer  to  know  that  his 
Lord  stands  before  him  unveiled,  even  in  the  midst 
of  strange  symbols,  to  call  forth  his  loving  interest 
and  adoring  gratitude.  It  may  be  safely  asserted 
that  those  who  find  nothing  here  worthy  of  their 
attention  most  neglect  the  book ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  they  who  most  frequently  and  prayerfully 
read  it  receive  constant  pleasure  and  instruction 
and  blessing. 

Even   a   casual    acquaintance   with    the    Bible 


170  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

shows  a  striking  similarity  in  many  respects  be- 
tween the  prophecy  of  Daniel  and  the  book  of 
Eevelation ;  and  it  is  suggested  that  the  two  be 
read  together  at  a  single  sitting.  There  is  this 
difference  however,  that  what  the  former  is  told  to 
shut  up  and  seal  to  the  time  of  the  end,  the  last  of 
the  Kew  Testament  prophets,  now  that  the  time  of 
the  end  is  at  hand,  is  told  to  reveal.  Moreover  the 
Lord  Jesus  Himself  gives  us  a  key  to  the  general 
meaning  and  design  of  the  book  in  the  three  grand 
divisions  which  He  makes  of  its  contents.  He 
says  to  John,  "  Write  the  things  which  thou  hast 
seen,^^  that  is,  His  walking  in  the  midst  of  the 
seven  golden  candlesticks,  arrayed  in  the  robes  of 
a  priest  exercising  judgpaent;  "and  the  things 
which  are,"  that  is  the  things  which  were  going  on 
in  John's  day  and  during  the  present  dispensation  ; 
**  and  the  things  which  shall  be  hereafter,"  or  liter- 
ally "  after  these  things,"  that  is,  after  the  present 
dispensation. 

Hence  the  book  gives  us  first  the  revelation  of 
Jesus  Christ,  looking  into  the  state  of  the  churches, 
chap.  i. :  second,  in  prophetic  outline  the  history  of 
the  churches,  chaps,  ii.,  iii. ;  third,  the  Church,  the 
real  Church,  made  up  of  quickened  souls,  in  heaven 
around  the  throne  set  for  judgment;  and  the  inves- 
titure of  the  Lamb  with  the  title  deeds  to  the  earth, 
chaps,  iv.,  V. ;  fourth,  the  outpouring  of  successive 


BOOKS   OF   THE   BIBLE.  171 

judgments  upon  the  earth,  growing  sharper  and 
severer,  but  only  hardening  men  in  iniquity,  until 
the  evil  heads  up  in  the  Antichrist,  and  a  mon- 
strous ecclesiastical  system  of  corruption,  chaps^ 
vi.-xviii. ;  fifth,  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,, 
and  His  descent  with  the  saints  to  inflict  personal 
vengeance  upon  Antichrist  and  his  armies,  chap^ 
xix. ',  sixth,  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  dead, 
the  millennial  kingdom,  during  which  Satan  is 
bound,  and  the  final  judgment  of  the  great  white 
throne,  chap.  xx. ;  seventh,  eternal  glory  and  mil- 
lennial joy,  chaps,  xxi.,  xxii. 

Scarcely  do  we  open  the  book  before  we  find  that 
we  stand  upon  different  ground  from  other  portions 
of  the  New  Testament.  The  invocation  is  ad- 
dressed to  God,  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  in  all  the  epistles  grace  and  peace  are 
implored  only  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  because 
the  Spirit  is  viewed  as  the  abiding  Comforter  of  the 
Church,  dwelling  in  believers.  Here  He  has  taken 
His  place  in  heaven,  as  before  His  descent  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost.  This  is  immediately  followed 
by  a  Christian  song  and  a  Jewish  wail  in  view  of 
the  coming  of  Christ  with  clouds  ;  and  this  again 
by  His  revelation  as  in  Dan.  vii.,  where  He  is* 
about  to  take  the  kingdom,  chap.  i. 

But  before  His  final  appearing  the  history  of 
the  professing  body  of  His  followers  is  given,  ta 


172  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

explain  the  subsequent  events  sketched  in  the  book. 
That  the  seven  churches  actually  existed  in  John's 
day  is  certain,  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  they 
were  symbolical,  as  shown  (1)  by  the  fact  that 
Jesus  speaks  of  "  the  mystery ''  connected  with 
them  ;  (2)  by  the  fact  that  there  were  just  seven, 
the  word  seven  occurring  at  least  fifty  times  in  the 
book,  and  always  elsewhere  as  symbolic  ;  (3)  by  the 
fact  that  our  Lord  confines  His  messages  to  these 
seven,  although  there  were  hundreds  and  thous- 
ands of  churches  then  established  ;  (4)  by  the  fact 
that  there  are  marked  differences  in  the  messages, 
though  the  churches  were  founded  at  the  same 
time  and  composed  of  the  same  people,  and  lying 
almost  in  a  circle  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other; 
(5)  by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  explanation  of  the 
change  that  occurs  in  the  mode  of  address  to  the 
first  three  and  the  last  four,  unless  they  are  sym- 
bolical ;  (6)  by  the  fact  that  the  promises  and  warn- 
ings are  evidently  continuous,  the  blessings  being 
restored  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  lost,  and 
the  whole  seven  answering  to  seven  successive 
periods  of  Israel's  decline  and  fall ;  (7)  by  the  fact 
that  the  prophetic  view  corresponds  precisely  with 
events  that  have  occurred  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  Ephesus  shows  the  giving  up  of  the  first 
love ;  Smyrna  the  period  of  persecution  that  fol- 
lowed the  days  of   the  apostles ;    Pergamos   the 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  173 

corruption  of  the  church  by  union  with  the  world 
under  Constantine  and  his  successors,  and  the 
prevalence  of  Nicolaitanism  or  clerical  pretension ; 
Thyatira  increasing  evil  through  the  idolatry  and 
spiritual  adultery  of  popery  in  the  dark  ages. 
Here  it  will  be  observed,  the  warning,  "  He  that 
hath  an  ear  '^  succeeds  the  promise,  and  it  does  not 
precede  as  in  the  first  three  epistles ;  and  here 
"  the  rest "  or  "  remnant  "  are  addressed  in  a  great 
mass  of  empty  profession  ;  and  from  this  time  on 
the  coming  of  Christ  is  mentioned  as  the  motive 
and  hope  of  thfe  faithful,  chap.  ii. 

This  is  followed  by  Sardis,  or  the  state  of  Prot- 
estantism, with  much  that  is  good  and  much  that  is 
formal  and  dead;  and  this  by  Philadelphia,  or 
revived  interest  in  the  person  and  word  of  Christ, 
leading  to  the  promise,  "  I  will  keep  thee  from  [out 
of  ]  the  hour  of  temptation,  which  shall  come  upon 
all  the  world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the 
earth ;"  and  this  by  Laodicea,  the  last  state  of  the 
professing  body,  outwardly  prosperous,  but  in- 
wardly corrupt,  excluding  the  Saviour  from  His 
own  house,  and  at  length  spued  out  of  His  mouth, 
chap.  iii. 

At  some  unnoticed  point  after  the  message  to 
Philadelphia,  and  it  must  have  been  unnoticed  by 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the  real  Church  is 
caught  up  to  heaven,  for  it  was  said  to  John,  *'  Come 


174  BOOKS   OP  THE  BIBLE. 

up  hither,  and  I  will  shew  thee  things  which  must 
be  hereafter,"  literally,  *'after  these  things "  re- 
corded in  chap.  ii.  and  iii.  From  that  time  the 
church  is  seen  no  more,  until  she  descends  with 
her  divine  Bridegroom  in  chap.  xix.  But  her  rep- 
resentatives are  seated  upon  thrones,  while  the 
Almighty,  a  title  given  to  God  nine  times  in  the 
book,  though  it  occurs  but  once  elsewhere  in  the 
New  Testament,  is  preparing  His  judgments, 
chap.  iv. 

Then  we  have  the  Lamb,  literally  *'  a  little  lamb," 
a  term  of  endearment  given  to  Christ  about  thirty 
times  in  the  book,  and  never  elsewhere.  He  is 
seen  to  be  the  centre  of  God's  counsels,  and  He 
alone  is  worthy  to  take  the  seven-sealed  book, 
and  to  exercise  lordship  over  creation,  while  the 
saints  ascribe  redemption  solely  to  His  blood, 
and  the  angels  on  the  outer  circle  echo  their  praise, 
€hap.  V. 

So  the  seals  are  opened,  as  the  cry  is  heard  to 
the  executors  of  God's  righteous  judgments, 
"  Come  ;"  and  wrath  descends  upon  the  fourth  part 
of  the  prophetic  earth.  Here  the  prayer  for  ven- 
geance from  the  souls  of  them  that  are  slain  for  the 
word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they 
held,  can  not  be  the  prayer  of  saints  in  the  present 
dispensation.  But  it  will  be  noticed  that  there  is 
an  interval  between  the  sixth  and  seventh  seal,  as 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  175 

there  is  between  the  sixth  and  seventh  trumpet, 
and  the  sixth  and  seventh  vial,  chap.  vi. 

During  the  interval  an  hundred  and  forty  and 
four  thousand  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  children  of 
Israel  are  sealed,  the  very  names  of  the  tribes  be- 
ing given,  marking  them  as  God's  own ;  and  a  great 
multitude  which  no  man  can  number  of  Gentiles 
are  redeemed,  though  they  do  not  constitute  part 
of  the  church,  strictly  speaking.  Multitudes  were 
saved  before  the  Christian  Church  was  formed  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  multitudes  will  be  saved 
after  the  church,  composed  of  all  who  are  baptized 
by  one  Spirit  into  one  body,  and  united  to  their 
living  Head,  shall  have  been  caught  away  to 
heaven,  chap.  vii. 

The  opening  of  the  seventh  seal  is  the  signal  or 
preparation  for  the  sounding  of  the  trumpets,  that 
Indicate  sorer  judgments  over  a  wider  field,  even 
the  third,  or  Eoman  part  of  the  earth.  Let  it  be 
borne  in  mind  that  these  judgments  are  yet  future, 
although  no  doubt  there  have  been  events  in  the 
past  that  are  typical  of  them,  as  '*  history  ever  re- 
peats itself;"  but  the  very  purpose  of  God  in  con- 
nection with  the  second  advent  of  His  Son  would 
have  been  defeated,  if  He  had  been  more  explicit 
in  details  and  explanations.  Six  trumpets  sound, 
but  those  who  are  smitten  only  harden  themselves, 
as  did  Pharaoh  of  old,  chaps,  viii.,  ix. 


17G  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

Then  comes  another  interruption,  during  which 
a  mighty  angel  descends  from  heaven,  declariug 
"  that  there  should  be  time  no  longer,"  or  rather, 
*'  that  there  should  be  no  longer  delay,''  in  winding 
up  the  awful  scene,  chap.  x. 

Meanwhile  Jerusalem  comes  distinctly  into  view, 
the  temple,  the  altar,  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  the 
holy  city,  being  explicitly  mentioned,  the  two  wit- 
nesses consuming  with  fire  and  smiting  with 
plagues,  which  the  saints  of  this  dispensation  are 
forbidden  to  do ;  and  at  length  their  dead  bodies 
lie  "  in  the  street  of  the  great  city,  which  spiritually 
is  called  Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord 
was  crucified."  Their  ascension  to  heaven  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  terrible  earthquake,  and  the  sounding 
of  the  seventh  trumpet,  announcing  that  "the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ;  and  he  shall  reign 
for  ever  and  ever,"  chap.  xi. 

But  this  naturally  leads  to  a  rehearsal  of  God's 
purpose  and  plan  in  connection  with  the  Son  of 
His  love,  from  His  birth  in  Israel,  or  rather  in 
Judah,  to  His  sitting  down  on  the  throne  in  heaven, 
the  casting  out  from  the  heavenly  places,  where 
our  conflict  is  now,  of  the  devil,  and  his  baffled 
purpose  to  destroy  the  Jews  and  the  believing  rem- 
nant, chap.  xii. 

Therefore  his  last  attempt  is  his  old  game  to 


BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE.  177 

counterfeit  God,  and  hence  we  have  an  infernal 
trinity  after  the  church  is  caught  away,  Satan 
counterfeiting  the  Father ;  an  imperial  infidel  gov- 
ernment in  the  restored  Eoman  empire  combined 
with  a  blasphemous  ecclesiastical  power,  substitut- 
ing culture  for  the  gospel  of  Christ;  and  a  base 
imitation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  working  miracles,  and 
deluding  the  whole  world  to  worship  Antichrist, 
chap.  xiii. 

But  there  will  be  an  elect  remnant,  another  hun- 
dred and  forty  and  four  thousand,  refusing  to  bow 
the  knee  to  man,  the  first  fruits  of  a  glorious  har- 
vest afterwards  to  be  gathered  in.  This  is  followed 
by  a  swift  succession  of  angelic  ministries,  cheering 
the  faithful  to  meet  death,  and  marking  seven  dis- 
tinct results  of  God's  dealing  in  grace  and  in  judg- 
ment, chap.  xiv. 

Then  come  seven  angels  having  the  seven  last 
plagues,  for  in  .them  is  filled  up  the  wrath  of  God. 
But  before  they  proceed  to  inflict  judgment,  the 
martyred  and  yet  victorious  Jewish  remnant  is 
heard  singing  the  song  of  Moses  the  servant  of 
God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  giving  praise  to 
the  king,  not  of  saints,  but  of  nations,  chap.  xv. 

The  outpouring  of  the  vials  or  bowls  is  the  next 
act  in  this  startling  drama  of  the  world's  closing 
history,  denoting  still  more  terrible  disasters  that 
are  coming  upon  the  Christ- rejecting  earth,  and 


178  BOOKS   OF   THE  BIBLE. 

thus  bringing  the  testimonies  of  the  last  book  of 
the  Bible  into  perfect  harmony  with  all  preceding 
prophecies  ;  for  they  all  predict  that  fearful  judg- 
ments will  usher  in  millennial  glory.  But  there  is 
a  pause  between  the  sixth  and  seven  vials,  as 
between  the  seals  and  trumpets,  chap.  xvi. 

This  brings  us  to  the  overthrow  of  Babylon,  the 
false  ecclesiastical  system,  by  the  false  civil  system 
upon  which  she  rode  into  power.  But  if  Babylon 
means  popery,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  she 
will  be  destroyed  only  by  the  personal  advent  of 
Christ,  and  that  she  is  '*  the  mother  of  harlots," 
having  many  daughters  clothed,  it  may  be,  in  a 
Protestant  garb,  chap.  xvii. 

So  important,  however,  is  the  part  Babylon  plays, 
as  the  counterfeit  of  the  true  Church,  the  bride,  in 
the  causes  that  lead  to  the  calamities  of  the  last 
days,  her  destruction  is  more  minutely  described. 
God's  people  are  called  to  come  out  of  her,  and  all 
her  luxury  and  power  and  splendor  make  her 
degradation  and  punishment  the  more  appalling, 
chap,  xviii. 

Immediately  upon  the  judgment  of  the  great 
whore,  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  is  cele- 
brated in  heaven,  and  the  crowned  King  of  kings 
descends  with  His  saints,  who  have  been  with  Him 
during  these  terrible  events,  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Antichrist  and  all  opposing  powers,  chap.  xix. 


BOOKS   OF  THE  BIBLE.  179 

Satan  is  then  cast  bound  into  the  abyss  for  a 
thousand  years,  all  the  righteous  dead  before 
Christ,  during  the  present  dispensation,  and  after 
the  rapture  of  the  Church,  are  raised  up,  and  share 
with  him  kingly  and  priestly  dignity  through  the 
millennium,  after  which  Satan  is  to  be  loosed  for  a 
little  season,  only  to  be  finally  and  forever  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire ;  and  the  judgment  of  the  great 
white  throne  introduces  eternity,  chap.  xx. 

A  glimpse  of  eternal  blessedness  is  given,  and 
only  a  glimpse,  for  we  could  stand  no  more ;  but 
the  rest  of  the  book  is  occupied  with  an  entrancing 
description  of  the  glory  of  the  Lamb,  the  beauty  of 
the  Lamb's  wife,  and  the  unalloyed  happiness  of 
the  saved  nations  of  earth,  walking  in  the  light  of 
the  celestial  city  and  of  the  bride's  shining  gar- 
ments, chap,  xxi.,  xxii.  That  we  may  have  our 
hearts  fully  and  intently  set  upon  the  revelations 
of  this  wondrous  book,  three  times  in  closing  does 
Jesus  say,  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly  ;'^  **  Behold,  I 
come  quickly ;"  "  Surely,  I  come  quickly ;"  and 
well  may  we  respond  with  the  eager  cry — 

"  Lord  Jesus,  Come  I 
Nor  let  us  longer  roam 
Afar  from  Thee,  and  that  bright  place 
Where  we  shall  see  Thee  face  to  face  i 
Lord  Jesus,  Come !" 


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